tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45333231507635033852024-03-05T02:33:18.907-08:00Blog of SeanFukuoka, Kyushu, Japan, Earth.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-15499679771815461062012-01-11T16:24:00.000-08:002012-01-12T05:06:15.799-08:00American Fighter Plane Crashes into Kyushu University!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbDAUGm7RDkuRC1FFSS9VTGeEHTtNvpKecnIlKta-3jHsNW_qaznlaOtnQhXsVf5dA-FVqR-EeNGL49G8fgWbI7jLAVGcd2bqhp10xfywEFVkSlQTaSqGa5Qde5Z77vzD25knct2hFFc/s1600/F4+phantom+United+States+Navy+Kyushu+University.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbDAUGm7RDkuRC1FFSS9VTGeEHTtNvpKecnIlKta-3jHsNW_qaznlaOtnQhXsVf5dA-FVqR-EeNGL49G8fgWbI7jLAVGcd2bqhp10xfywEFVkSlQTaSqGa5Qde5Z77vzD25knct2hFFc/s400/F4+phantom+United+States+Navy+Kyushu+University.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696559218046081826" border="0" /></a>A couple of years ago I had a conversation with Ena`s uncle about Kyushu University. He had been a student here in the 1960s, which I thought was kind of an interesting coincidence.<br /><br />The fact that Hakozaki campus is located right under the approach to Fukuoka airport at one point made its way into the conversation. Boeing 747s and other aircraft are only a couple hundred metres overhead when they fly above the campus, which makes it quite noisy.<br /><br />While talking about that he mentioned something that piqued my interest. During his days as a student a plane had actually crashed on campus. A military plane, an F4 Phantom, flew right into a building.<br /><br />I was interested in learning more about the incident, but ended up forgetting about it until a couple of days ago when I bought this book:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZWu3r8SZR8AKr9zd4-EXDymWZoYu2C0lFwu6_zac_-NG_b5Hv7GqifVaqmrNlY6FDtlpDeTOXo2fBbdClAYqPfQgepUYdM9JUm-gD9uwdJtO9ZrfJ7W7hxPgbatFmyxlOIow2vc_avU/s1600/University+History+Book.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZWu3r8SZR8AKr9zd4-EXDymWZoYu2C0lFwu6_zac_-NG_b5Hv7GqifVaqmrNlY6FDtlpDeTOXo2fBbdClAYqPfQgepUYdM9JUm-gD9uwdJtO9ZrfJ7W7hxPgbatFmyxlOIow2vc_avU/s400/University+History+Book.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696553462320104130" border="0" /></a>Kyushu University celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and the published this photographic history of the University. I thought it was kind of neat so I bought a copy at the Coop.<br /><br />The book has a couple of pages devoted to the crash, which it turns out was a pretty big event in the University`s history. It occurred on June 2, 1968 when the Phantom crashed into this building:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP38pj0daHgOlQ3Ez-LTJXeW4jHmvMES9KtPJHoMZF_5DkI6fEM9MDzi9lsAh79YlSb8Qp2GO9XJO279EYlLHBZLolZNPw_dxwhZIWc9WSkOia5WAPvfxUhpsVplNfUoq0BAUkNaMF2bo/s1600/United+States+Navy+F4+Phantom+Crash.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP38pj0daHgOlQ3Ez-LTJXeW4jHmvMES9KtPJHoMZF_5DkI6fEM9MDzi9lsAh79YlSb8Qp2GO9XJO279EYlLHBZLolZNPw_dxwhZIWc9WSkOia5WAPvfxUhpsVplNfUoq0BAUkNaMF2bo/s400/United+States+Navy+F4+Phantom+Crash.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696553457524194162" border="0" /></a>Both of the pilots ejected safely and nobody was in the building at the time so fortunately nobody was hurt in the incident.<br /><br />I did a bit of further research online about it. There isn`t anything in English, but the Japanese Wikipedia has an article about it <a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E5%B7%9E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E9%9B%BB%E7%AE%97%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%A0%E5%A2%9C%E8%90%BD%E4%BA%8B%E6%95%85">here</a>. There is a bit of a Cold War background to the incident. In January of 1968 North Korea seized an American spy ship, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_%28AGER-2%29#USS_Pueblo_incident">USS Pueblo</a> along with her crew. As part of their response to this incident the US moved a number of its aircraft, including the one that crashed into campus, from Okinawa to Fukuoka (which is much closer to North Korea and the Sea of Japan).<br /><br />Anyway, after reading all of this I became a bit curious about where exactly on campus this plane had crashed. The building it hit, which was under construction at the time, was called the 九州大学大型計算機センター. This roughly translates as Kyushu University Large Model Computing Device Center Building. I looked at the campus map but couldn`t find anything of that name.<br /><br />The picture of the building itself wasn`t very helpful either. It just looks like a big ugly concrete box, which is what ninety percent of the buildings on campus look like:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLbRkNRkOGSZNRniplx9i3GR5gk20F8KlNvdkETfEFRv8GgwOjR8BnK7NlOuQkOca2tVFms9iK0wcSNzGZ-Vy0RmvH1x3YRN2AGHucfSWLKTsKCPqNnomIqu09Yn2DQJJ44gk1hod9Uc/s1600/United+States+Navy+F4+Phantom+Crash+Kyushu+University.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLbRkNRkOGSZNRniplx9i3GR5gk20F8KlNvdkETfEFRv8GgwOjR8BnK7NlOuQkOca2tVFms9iK0wcSNzGZ-Vy0RmvH1x3YRN2AGHucfSWLKTsKCPqNnomIqu09Yn2DQJJ44gk1hod9Uc/s400/United+States+Navy+F4+Phantom+Crash+Kyushu+University.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696553449509310066" border="0" /></a>The above picture did at least have some other buildings in the photo to work with though. I decided to bring it with me and zip around campus on my bike during my lunch break yesterday to try to find them.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLO3y_BNi8j8jKM9Ap78g6tRA_petEDtfT6lfr1GVBHIfbT5e3KAifOftnrEzPgJ6zsNEqAMteFI-4-DjF57i_Fi9r9H6cSC3fWoFXQoUx9UU3B9lv6_p909IGvkB8itB5cnjGaYlef8/s1600/Yellow+Bicycle.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLO3y_BNi8j8jKM9Ap78g6tRA_petEDtfT6lfr1GVBHIfbT5e3KAifOftnrEzPgJ6zsNEqAMteFI-4-DjF57i_Fi9r9H6cSC3fWoFXQoUx9UU3B9lv6_p909IGvkB8itB5cnjGaYlef8/s400/Yellow+Bicycle.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696553471290851730" border="0" /></a>It actually didn`t take me that long. The building in the upper right hand corner of the photo is the architecture building here:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYgjXVGJS4vxcC0A9KLVr6Xc8kMgzZ2lcYB9FAxHwVAZxMGyyAMPno64tV_3K9s9VbhLAOFsXHd5DIo3XnXz5eW3JX3OaVoeFpRJGT8Ip_I4PPDRT1ly4MSn0nSM1IjBUwGYbL3M9jD0/s1600/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Architecture+building.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYgjXVGJS4vxcC0A9KLVr6Xc8kMgzZ2lcYB9FAxHwVAZxMGyyAMPno64tV_3K9s9VbhLAOFsXHd5DIo3XnXz5eW3JX3OaVoeFpRJGT8Ip_I4PPDRT1ly4MSn0nSM1IjBUwGYbL3M9jD0/s400/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Architecture+building.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696546595783815554" border="0" /></a>I`ve always found it amusing that the architecture faculty of one of Japan`s top national universities is housed in perhaps the ugliest building ever created by human hands, but that is another story.<br /><br />Anyway, the building visible just to the left of the crash site is this one here:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCLJNk6h8QsonctDmswopGPLz81teUTOlAufv9IDYQ3Ci6GldPTdNOS4VJYPGZ0buOYDYbyjW0O1zptdkj2bhdAWKf1rW7dk7Uq1c-f5B1HBCNsQaynssurSf-76oxf6r0Th_yNzQ9-8/s1600/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Campus.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCLJNk6h8QsonctDmswopGPLz81teUTOlAufv9IDYQ3Ci6GldPTdNOS4VJYPGZ0buOYDYbyjW0O1zptdkj2bhdAWKf1rW7dk7Uq1c-f5B1HBCNsQaynssurSf-76oxf6r0Th_yNzQ9-8/s400/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Campus.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696540552000008210" border="0" /></a>Identifying the two of them allowed me to triangulate the position of the crash site as being this building here:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ahi9J_fUqzsht16Ln0yQVN2f9ZcjyOSi_SnaRnkHAeenwo7xIxYDQnslcm0AX8JH2WRyI20OdCdM-xYN7OKX2t3JrNW1FH5aDBiwKZn-w_xW2mH7na8jHr5wwz3I4QK8yk25gfWnuZY/s1600/Kyudai+Hakozaki+Campus+computer+building.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ahi9J_fUqzsht16Ln0yQVN2f9ZcjyOSi_SnaRnkHAeenwo7xIxYDQnslcm0AX8JH2WRyI20OdCdM-xYN7OKX2t3JrNW1FH5aDBiwKZn-w_xW2mH7na8jHr5wwz3I4QK8yk25gfWnuZY/s400/Kyudai+Hakozaki+Campus+computer+building.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696546592541530370" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uIO-INJMzh8R0tptlg_PEMVZbidbKXDHkXExFRbpqyqFvz2bL_cYgm4Q7W5P1AeqdVKbP1iGYFfmZO70RPPayt1JpeMIbZFsyFJ3Rju0AHpYKIPqdr005raTQhxTwlgIydEomdHeTUY/s1600/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Campus+Computer+Building.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uIO-INJMzh8R0tptlg_PEMVZbidbKXDHkXExFRbpqyqFvz2bL_cYgm4Q7W5P1AeqdVKbP1iGYFfmZO70RPPayt1JpeMIbZFsyFJ3Rju0AHpYKIPqdr005raTQhxTwlgIydEomdHeTUY/s400/Kyushu+University+Hakozaki+Campus+Computer+Building.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696540546387415890" border="0" /></a>This is the Research Institute for Information Technology. They must have renamed it since the crash. They also seem to have expanded it as it looks bigger than the building under construction in the photo.<br /><br />Anyway, forty four years ago this building actually had the tail end of an F4 Phantom sticking out of it. I think it looked better with the wreckage still in it, and as it turns out so did a lot of students at the time, albeit for different reasons. For me the charm mainly lay in the fact that you see so few university buildings with F4 tail fins sticking out the side that it would be just kind of a nice thing to have preserved.<br /><br />For the students back then though it was all political. Thousands of them took to the streets in the days after the incident to protest against all that stuff that used to get the young folks riled up back in the 60s. One of their demands was that the wreckage be left in place. They wanted this to serve as an anti-war symbol. That really doesn`t make much sense seeing as this event didn`t occur in a war and nobody was actually hurt in the incident. It is not exactly the sort of thing that stirs people`s pashions like the monuments in Hiroshima or Nagasaki do. Perhaps the commemorative plaque would have read:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On this spot in 1968 an American warplane`s senseless action led to the loss over 100 hours worth of drywall work, 40 hours of electrical installation work and an unknown quantity of linoleum. Lest we forget.</span><br /><br />At any rate, barricades went up and they were able to actually prevent anyone from removing the wreckage for about 6 months. Eventually some workers snuck in at night with a bulldozer and yanked it out when everybody was....doing whatever radical 60s students in Japan did at night.<br /><br />Anyway, I thought this was rather neat. I love my new Kyushu University picture book, its full of interesting stuff like this. If only I had the time to explore them all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE</span><br /><br />Just found out a little more information about the crash from, of all places, a <a href="http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/project/year_pages/1968.htm">website that tracks ejections from jets</a>. The Japanese sources (including my beloved Kyudai picture book) didn`t have any information about who was actually flying the aircraft or what they were doing, so that site was able to fill in a couple of blanks in the story. It seems that the pilots, Major E.E. Johnson and Lt. Col. R.F. Crutchlow, were undergoing night time take off and landing training when the F4 caught fire on approach to Fukuoka airport. They seem to have ejected just seconds before it hit (their parachutes landed just a few metres from the crash site), must have been quite the close call for them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-85821573604886374922011-12-27T05:13:00.000-08:002012-05-19T04:51:23.670-07:00Random Fukuoka Street Scenes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTwjERPrHQ9Xip49BQzKrsJeN0QA_tf3a44L9x09bbVrCqIjLeo4DHf7SD-32oDeP-b0kIX5iFBdHvNm64ZKSRQzFztGUXHSMGV80gtNzY1OymIrfhEhsVRUFGEMx_gGczn0-Jpq8_WE/s1600/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife+Scene+Bridge.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690796676897968450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTwjERPrHQ9Xip49BQzKrsJeN0QA_tf3a44L9x09bbVrCqIjLeo4DHf7SD-32oDeP-b0kIX5iFBdHvNm64ZKSRQzFztGUXHSMGV80gtNzY1OymIrfhEhsVRUFGEMx_gGczn0-Jpq8_WE/s400/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife+Scene+Bridge.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 224px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The new year is upon us. 2011 was a pretty busy year for us. We got a dog. Umh....yeah that alone pretty much explains why we were so busy. Well, I`ve also been much busier with my thesis than I was in 2010 and Ena has been extremely busy with work too, so those also contributed.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this is a bit of a melancholy new year for me as in all likelihood it will be our last in Fukuoka. I`ll be graduating in 2012 and in all likelihood wherever I end up working after that will not be here.<br />
<br />
Its been three years since we arrived and the place has really grown on me. If you ever get the chance to live somewhere in Japan, make it Fukuoka if you can.<br />
<br />
Far and away the thing I will miss most is simply riding my bike around the city and the countryside around it. I haven`t done as much of that this year as in the past (as I said, we got a dog), but just riding around on a bicycle surrounded by interesting things everywhere you go is an experience like no other.<br />
<br />
I made a trip into town the other day and brought my camera along with me to photograph some of the random scenery that I pass. On the way in, the Gofukumachi area near the Shofukuji temple has some interesting old shops on very quiet streets:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS621H-tv1JLOhQjcWcGCaF-gmXWmwXP_dI5kJg87ea5COxKYlcj_YzwBkL1vrnLU7I94WsZsel0LtKnPHsl1XACApCh1RihNbkKDC7_v-WWuxDLN7QrM84spKuk3MtgjoWT-Hg22nw0/s1600/Fukuoka+Gofukumachi+Street+scene.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690796665854568562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS621H-tv1JLOhQjcWcGCaF-gmXWmwXP_dI5kJg87ea5COxKYlcj_YzwBkL1vrnLU7I94WsZsel0LtKnPHsl1XACApCh1RihNbkKDC7_v-WWuxDLN7QrM84spKuk3MtgjoWT-Hg22nw0/s400/Fukuoka+Gofukumachi+Street+scene.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>This alley in Tenjin, which is actually quite close to where Ena works, has always interested me just due to the sheer volume of air conditioners that have been crammed onto the side of that one building:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42VhRaiK1QiKunyf19cD1KwZoput-3BUWMRfmn3178DAp5GfzRtFiGWFaLWvkzoZsYBJndE1hr3Dt3bu6rUaZB3-VCW3iSBnh8gsUPSIaE39vRUtsoXq_NgNiP65of1h-9sIFSxTptyM/s1600/Fukuoka+Tenjin+Street+Scene.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690798140066210002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42VhRaiK1QiKunyf19cD1KwZoput-3BUWMRfmn3178DAp5GfzRtFiGWFaLWvkzoZsYBJndE1hr3Dt3bu6rUaZB3-VCW3iSBnh8gsUPSIaE39vRUtsoXq_NgNiP65of1h-9sIFSxTptyM/s400/Fukuoka+Tenjin+Street+Scene.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a>The details are often what make things interesting:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dHbwgYu5BX5IsH7HxkZLRlJc-eFZ8xQGwuin56J6hvhiWuqFWHDxapxnVrG525PLw6Ox2CgtRAibzuf5h9uviZL9zrEQakaUITGqe5LyQVeX66BKwdOGodYYSTJ4fxIqjdX-226ohYQ/s1600/Fukuoka+Tenjin+Motorbike.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690983318081735298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dHbwgYu5BX5IsH7HxkZLRlJc-eFZ8xQGwuin56J6hvhiWuqFWHDxapxnVrG525PLw6Ox2CgtRAibzuf5h9uviZL9zrEQakaUITGqe5LyQVeX66BKwdOGodYYSTJ4fxIqjdX-226ohYQ/s400/Fukuoka+Tenjin+Motorbike.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>On the way back it is dark. The city looks quite fun after the sun has gone down, especially in Nakasu where the nightlife is kind of bustling:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifY9U151M8FuUzjkspADsu0Bo9xK-wYwDAu2A6c-T-KTBvzqGm65U_RK4IbbB2GC4Wwpf1Jn_RYcsk1e5Y2M2YTa24XTDwoTaBG6W0qHkg3Lilc0yFjvdb9K9-pSiiid_km_XbE18TAo/s1600/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife+2.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690796667886163314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifY9U151M8FuUzjkspADsu0Bo9xK-wYwDAu2A6c-T-KTBvzqGm65U_RK4IbbB2GC4Wwpf1Jn_RYcsk1e5Y2M2YTa24XTDwoTaBG6W0qHkg3Lilc0yFjvdb9K9-pSiiid_km_XbE18TAo/s400/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife+2.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFO7CSiYEWjl-X7QL1_mvlQdIWc42PeeV6Yb44AeIS9cPs3ZU4-6ZT8F42wMPH3sWMq84wdjXG6KFsfJZGeupRq0zDr2kDIZWVpkARhs_tGoHDFwCxnMCbZ-yHhUNjLkegeZVk9oyb64/s1600/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690798130858563938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFO7CSiYEWjl-X7QL1_mvlQdIWc42PeeV6Yb44AeIS9cPs3ZU4-6ZT8F42wMPH3sWMq84wdjXG6KFsfJZGeupRq0zDr2kDIZWVpkARhs_tGoHDFwCxnMCbZ-yHhUNjLkegeZVk9oyb64/s400/Fukuoka+Nakasu+Nightlife.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Whenever possible I like to ride through Nakasu at night, but in all our time here I`ve never actually had a night on the town there. Not surprising I guess given my age and marital status.<br />
<br />
This alley here is near Canal City. It is devoid of any interesting architecture so its the type of place nobody ever notices. Whenever I ride by it though I just have to look at it. Somehow the combination of everything in it I find very visually appealing. The distance between the buildings, the amount of dirt on them, the mess of signs and lights - it is like they are all perfectly calculated to look right. Everything is well balanced. Most such alleys don`t get it right. There is always something amiss - too much space between the buildings, not enough lights, a building that has been torn down to make a parking lot - something is always out of place and it ruins the image. This one somehow got everything right though.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-N2i9pvOOeP2r_6Xa91QP1XMczQdk9p0KH37qzY4m8nNOo7zhNhjujTELgiEzQlXy_8M3ObkuAgqnaraUcQjwWUMqbNmHAlCmi5TesXxM-VR8G_yBsVe588QaF-dtL6JgSTB9y2aTnuM/s1600/Fukuoka+Night+Scene+near+Nakasu+and+Canal+City.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690798136263150914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-N2i9pvOOeP2r_6Xa91QP1XMczQdk9p0KH37qzY4m8nNOo7zhNhjujTELgiEzQlXy_8M3ObkuAgqnaraUcQjwWUMqbNmHAlCmi5TesXxM-VR8G_yBsVe588QaF-dtL6JgSTB9y2aTnuM/s400/Fukuoka+Night+Scene+near+Nakasu+and+Canal+City.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>This here is a really small shrine on a street in Hakozaki. I love riding past it at night because the neon sign next to it, which is an ad for a shop up the block, illuminates its white roof in a pretty way. Its another one of those pleasant accidents in the placing of objects that gives the city its charm.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeR7tAX-rYAf50ZZXisbGXiImuycVhcizNmNqwfgWZrj9gfelL3Cv3quYcgFsnnu144_F-YZ7vdDMTQ5NQRHvbBAVcpcKVn82aiNQ6HB6j10vUCktTtb3FYvPnLKz2S3r9WdIbrND-Es/s1600/The+Other+Hakozaki+Shrine.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690799381837933650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeR7tAX-rYAf50ZZXisbGXiImuycVhcizNmNqwfgWZrj9gfelL3Cv3quYcgFsnnu144_F-YZ7vdDMTQ5NQRHvbBAVcpcKVn82aiNQ6HB6j10vUCktTtb3FYvPnLKz2S3r9WdIbrND-Es/s400/The+Other+Hakozaki+Shrine.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a>This is the Nishitetsu Kaizuka Station. Its an ugly station and the only reason I photographed it is for my own memory. Ena returns home from work there everyday and when I go to meet her I usually wait in the spot from which this photo was taken. Its just another one of those little things that I`m going to miss.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fyekrlWNL7fndL7xCbQLKujy9FQO_U8fsE5sWEDptYCMdjd772YfaoRepDIa5j8DzMdfHWE32YSsO3hak45unMyoGSagZ9h3oeGb4ZDpsuBmJMvCJsFdAEKE_QZ7lMpf73lNKGjS3Vo/s1600/Kaizuka+Station+Fukuoka+Nishitetsu.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690798149245899090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fyekrlWNL7fndL7xCbQLKujy9FQO_U8fsE5sWEDptYCMdjd772YfaoRepDIa5j8DzMdfHWE32YSsO3hak45unMyoGSagZ9h3oeGb4ZDpsuBmJMvCJsFdAEKE_QZ7lMpf73lNKGjS3Vo/s400/Kaizuka+Station+Fukuoka+Nishitetsu.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-38817123875810747082011-12-17T00:40:00.000-08:002011-12-26T17:56:14.931-08:00Christmas in Fukuoka<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCsH-tuSRCY_1zolMuJZs7f5od0GjMYOXEiUpwuVnY4CtiEBJmtvzEHNRPI1kfLhykX08jC17oMMFnmQOWsHHXJh5bJ-06jzt-CGPiVgbGHIZ5yLMn2YwOTSMDNlJuoKn8-nm2CV0q7M/s1600/Fukuoka+Christmas+Tenjin.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCsH-tuSRCY_1zolMuJZs7f5od0GjMYOXEiUpwuVnY4CtiEBJmtvzEHNRPI1kfLhykX08jC17oMMFnmQOWsHHXJh5bJ-06jzt-CGPiVgbGHIZ5yLMn2YwOTSMDNlJuoKn8-nm2CV0q7M/s400/Fukuoka+Christmas+Tenjin.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690620951806358866" border="0" /></a>Christmas season has arrived in Fukuoka. Ena and I decided to do some shopping last week in the evening so that we could take in the illuminated bits and pieces.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AwujPHQvQllNeB77y4PCUMBKl5O2nd6S9XJrfo5dN0VLjPWi4zlTk_kh5Fny00hyjpM5RLaQ6NUPhaHWKnNGOAsv2oPpDiMNm2M5e0nslGQ4IHW7U7HGLqZceMa0rzueqF6FKH-HR6Q/s1600/P1090741.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AwujPHQvQllNeB77y4PCUMBKl5O2nd6S9XJrfo5dN0VLjPWi4zlTk_kh5Fny00hyjpM5RLaQ6NUPhaHWKnNGOAsv2oPpDiMNm2M5e0nslGQ4IHW7U7HGLqZceMa0rzueqF6FKH-HR6Q/s400/P1090741.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687020490973376066" border="0" /></a>First stop: Daimaru department store<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eTpbZSKUebWKWXG42pc6OGa4PoW6tz0yPav5EUTA8s7X1mc0nSLs_wW6incSUTni13vtpI0-MExzA5OPIkBe9TG92kUkYYqTtlzotLJSn1N1V9iWSZY57bSIKOiYkw8t1a_9zVZ3xTk/s1600/P1090711.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eTpbZSKUebWKWXG42pc6OGa4PoW6tz0yPav5EUTA8s7X1mc0nSLs_wW6incSUTni13vtpI0-MExzA5OPIkBe9TG92kUkYYqTtlzotLJSn1N1V9iWSZY57bSIKOiYkw8t1a_9zVZ3xTk/s400/P1090711.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687015659609126466" border="0" /></a>The big illuminated teddy bear and Christmas trees are made of plastic soda bottles. The lettering is done with the bottle caps:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTSQXLkGjP-WMUc6oAKznP6Ms92eaW_mqykgC3zZXWCUh_Iv69b4BlYB9_NADt0o97tStUf_LnbCsmMb20qi3WXW7uRfK9A8uwkC9-b9aXjgYxecicBnG1vbM_T2GudTrV5meNFWenZc/s1600/P1090716.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTSQXLkGjP-WMUc6oAKznP6Ms92eaW_mqykgC3zZXWCUh_Iv69b4BlYB9_NADt0o97tStUf_LnbCsmMb20qi3WXW7uRfK9A8uwkC9-b9aXjgYxecicBnG1vbM_T2GudTrV5meNFWenZc/s400/P1090716.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687015668402405266" border="0" /></a>We had dinner at a little cafe on the right of the picture up there. It was kind of nice:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqJ5uqLQ0SlQpIfaO2s24XrQbk4oqU4uno52YEl5tJFTknuHur0B0B2TN4OJbVl5_L2KfPYLXak9MiM7MGwfc4AfUdWfleE0gx9WYVvkQtIOtvWaOK6OMhSHv0AUME5edypyZVLciDyI/s1600/P1090727.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqJ5uqLQ0SlQpIfaO2s24XrQbk4oqU4uno52YEl5tJFTknuHur0B0B2TN4OJbVl5_L2KfPYLXak9MiM7MGwfc4AfUdWfleE0gx9WYVvkQtIOtvWaOK6OMhSHv0AUME5edypyZVLciDyI/s400/P1090727.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687022851507121874" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagfcFawkOI2f4aCqiPuAENgkTt-zckweK7DmG7LBQo_we6dLutlvxPPCQKWI8sjZcfmFHfi_EkEhQgjDzF_PTmNqZXMJrRF8H6-aVjt3mczLtUCaCF_yv3XxjncDhcRKp4D5YXg19gDk/s1600/P1090725.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagfcFawkOI2f4aCqiPuAENgkTt-zckweK7DmG7LBQo_we6dLutlvxPPCQKWI8sjZcfmFHfi_EkEhQgjDzF_PTmNqZXMJrRF8H6-aVjt3mczLtUCaCF_yv3XxjncDhcRKp4D5YXg19gDk/s400/P1090725.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687022845270844338" border="0" /></a>After that we headed over to Keigo park, which is just behind the Mitsukoshi Department store. They have a skating rink (made of plastic, its way too warm here for ice):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6yb2wAOARlish1vsc6Uo7D3RHfBTOA6yMezpXk3yuketz_LWgsjreYtcWCmgSo9clegzhBhvnKThpBZlON2batg23IfBVDftXnIE4XmzFwK3HJIkUL40sk_S9b-J37-Mps4Y9VobWss/s1600/P1090739.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6yb2wAOARlish1vsc6Uo7D3RHfBTOA6yMezpXk3yuketz_LWgsjreYtcWCmgSo9clegzhBhvnKThpBZlON2batg23IfBVDftXnIE4XmzFwK3HJIkUL40sk_S9b-J37-Mps4Y9VobWss/s400/P1090739.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687016818555909410" border="0" /></a>Ena has never skated before and my last memory of doing so ended in me falling down and whacking my head on the ice when I was a kid, so we didn`t skate ourselves. It was kind of nice to see though.<br /><br />We walked around the park a bit, which had a lot of trees and other Christmassy lights:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGV396suX0de49gOR6csPaU8iqTAv0mOBwXjFjk15_zL4NDQ5Bu7lDU2zoAzu-SFLZADS1o1d96cm1uKyTKXXJqfbKiPx_fW2WxeMF7JC7RCM9qJfNpGIK7TgOzok2LUFFD9ickW572rU/s1600/P1090740.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGV396suX0de49gOR6csPaU8iqTAv0mOBwXjFjk15_zL4NDQ5Bu7lDU2zoAzu-SFLZADS1o1d96cm1uKyTKXXJqfbKiPx_fW2WxeMF7JC7RCM9qJfNpGIK7TgOzok2LUFFD9ickW572rU/s400/P1090740.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687016822594521522" border="0" /></a>Got the last of my Christmas shopping done today, all we have to do now is countdown to the big day:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WYWhFeOqvJg1LcUXwRdTI5WkeL3-TKMu4bWLo3JeWAehstsRfaN6TKFC32SkaBaauZYHOfaQyI4aoxMvozaHyT5mGn8_xcKDKm65WZOVVGdl9j8rFBjGdtTqxOfXX07QD1tDcg600to/s1600/P1090702.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WYWhFeOqvJg1LcUXwRdTI5WkeL3-TKMu4bWLo3JeWAehstsRfaN6TKFC32SkaBaauZYHOfaQyI4aoxMvozaHyT5mGn8_xcKDKm65WZOVVGdl9j8rFBjGdtTqxOfXX07QD1tDcg600to/s400/P1090702.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687027601202983362" border="0" /></a>The dog really likes the advent calender.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-9462613704606908402011-12-14T03:45:00.000-08:002011-12-14T05:19:32.107-08:00The Tree in the Road<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgG6cBzmEAG0qLi6_yX26FcracjI9E-3FjC7hDLhSuvMmedErcddQjBkURaZ1HRB1VcsfIJV1EWnaMfrB3SHXvzXAiBstqBCib8jdzkYLjLlfE8ayGn58sHai-KlpO7XVjWrTYRuYU3vY/s1600/P1090302.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgG6cBzmEAG0qLi6_yX26FcracjI9E-3FjC7hDLhSuvMmedErcddQjBkURaZ1HRB1VcsfIJV1EWnaMfrB3SHXvzXAiBstqBCib8jdzkYLjLlfE8ayGn58sHai-KlpO7XVjWrTYRuYU3vY/s400/P1090302.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685966196735845010" border="0" /></a>Been a couple of months since I posted anything here. The only excuse I have is that I`ve been busy writing a thesis that was supposed to write itself but has thus far been entirely uncooperative.<br /><br />I thought I`d once again try to revive the blog with a post about a tree.<br /><br />Not just any tree. This tree:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmfTnVQmc3f2oqS2bqA4JlWwLt-RvfTpiJ7nrm9r37a7HGsd2CnDhlp6CsUfqGjQ6BGEykW6F1y_AKn4WmcmRssBfkyr7GAGVBGrlYNwywMtTMponTvKn1VnkN8tNoOdinxR9OI3U43M/s1600/P1090303.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmfTnVQmc3f2oqS2bqA4JlWwLt-RvfTpiJ7nrm9r37a7HGsd2CnDhlp6CsUfqGjQ6BGEykW6F1y_AKn4WmcmRssBfkyr7GAGVBGrlYNwywMtTMponTvKn1VnkN8tNoOdinxR9OI3U43M/s400/P1090303.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685966201700334386" border="0" /></a>This is a side street on Hakozaki campus, not far from the architecture department. I love this tree. Its existence is absolutely mind boggling to me. In any country having a tree growing in the middle of a road would raise a few eyebrows, but in Japan it is virtually unthinkable. <br /><br />I once had a friend who was an engineer working for the Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure. He explained to me the difference in road building strategies between Japan and Canada. <br /><br />`In Canada` he explained, `if they come across a hill when building a road, they just build around it. In Japan, we just get rid of the hill.`<br /><br />An exaggeration to be sure, but anyone who has driven down one of the major expressways here probably knows what he was getting at. Which makes me wonder why they didn`t get rid of this tree when building this road.<br /><br />Its not a particularly old tree, nor is it an endangered species or anything. Just your standard black pine. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuyqAKjqRhr9CyQBIHBqlbhem7pJE-0CxeyFCYweexmfqXvL9V0wk_96fPywepSdUZtck8RkfB53hYiVY4RVsMK1v-uqnkeAzglGRY387PN5SLzzSxW7XWvVNbFcXg54MLztzea8qe0M/s1600/P1090304.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuyqAKjqRhr9CyQBIHBqlbhem7pJE-0CxeyFCYweexmfqXvL9V0wk_96fPywepSdUZtck8RkfB53hYiVY4RVsMK1v-uqnkeAzglGRY387PN5SLzzSxW7XWvVNbFcXg54MLztzea8qe0M/s400/P1090304.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685966208004569122" border="0" /></a>And there it is, blocking traffic. Wonderful. I hope when they move the campus to Ito whoever takes over the land leaves this tree in place. It is probably the coolest thing on campus.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-71095054932275484872011-10-15T16:46:00.000-07:002011-12-26T17:59:04.083-08:00Hawks Town Mall: Dead and Loving It<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgg9RrUKnBxUWArzeoENK7FY1UuaRkJQr1lP44A1CJ1X8sMHyhZ9J65y2URSfZ-G5kMPZjY3gCCp3cwokb08VOYGYI3ktpFDfmns2XrazDidnfbMKmhP4E0U12qoJooPw2qAEhxwqtXcg/s1600/P1090047.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgg9RrUKnBxUWArzeoENK7FY1UuaRkJQr1lP44A1CJ1X8sMHyhZ9J65y2URSfZ-G5kMPZjY3gCCp3cwokb08VOYGYI3ktpFDfmns2XrazDidnfbMKmhP4E0U12qoJooPw2qAEhxwqtXcg/s400/P1090047.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663871110179029362" border="0" /></a>Yesterday I got to see the last regular season game at the Fukuoka Dome. This was courtesy of Ena`s employer, who gave her a pair of tickets. Unfortunately they didn`t give her the day off to go with them, so it was a bit of an empty gesture on their part as she had to work that day.<br /><br />The seats were great, just behind third base. The Hawks lost the game 2-1, but it didn`t matter much as they had clinched the Pacific League about a month ago. After the game the team did a victory lap to celebrate the pennant win, which was cool to see:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNBvzURbZc6ErEGsVdLmqyLQL5W4F5owuvae73ZJucMUEgcrNC2FAQF2Z3QT73jVgo4zm0ATnRRNUHllUmO2OOjG1SJJ0JXEeMqBaHKcA4wLVf_u5-KAjC7Vds4sSCI3HlNjKDquk-NU/s1600/P1090069.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNBvzURbZc6ErEGsVdLmqyLQL5W4F5owuvae73ZJucMUEgcrNC2FAQF2Z3QT73jVgo4zm0ATnRRNUHllUmO2OOjG1SJJ0JXEeMqBaHKcA4wLVf_u5-KAjC7Vds4sSCI3HlNjKDquk-NU/s400/P1090069.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663871114925725330" border="0" /></a>After the game I made my way through the Hawks Town Mall,which is where I parked my bike. The Hawks Town Mall is something of an albatross in the Fukuoka landscape and I`ve been meaning to write something about it for the longest time, so I thought I`d use this post to do just that.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEorlFULRSySJat5ightsNufsAvSzyIinpPts8tfguhPMSYGTcT43QYMSjafIBpknELT28Gkk5Vu21-l6fIh0gwe7Uiwhk42oquLBY65jL_KBCEi5fr2Z4RYdqegKPyKkZ_V0lJwSYQmA/s1600/P1090083.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEorlFULRSySJat5ightsNufsAvSzyIinpPts8tfguhPMSYGTcT43QYMSjafIBpknELT28Gkk5Vu21-l6fIh0gwe7Uiwhk42oquLBY65jL_KBCEi5fr2Z4RYdqegKPyKkZ_V0lJwSYQmA/s400/P1090083.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663874169047786530" border="0" /></a>This is the story of what is slowly turning into a `<a href="http://deadmalls.com/">dead mall</a>`. Dead malls - that is to say malls that are either completely or partially empty and abandoned - are a relativly common part of the landscape in North America but they are relatively rare in Japan. Japan of course has tons of abandoned buildings, especially in the countryside, but malls are a relatively new phenomenah here so most haven`t been around long enough to have completely failed yet.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3G0Yq3Pa-4be1UAWBtO5fwlJ0SxHHcpTkbXO3_hJ2KmDOz3hBiXkpOnHHj7tpKpmEGS7mMX4POUWc-y0Xc_HbhleCl8PUcL8QIdDBTTYq9yq9M-skRmjjlu2HUoLv-BXbeLDNmmjbY4/s1600/P1090086.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3G0Yq3Pa-4be1UAWBtO5fwlJ0SxHHcpTkbXO3_hJ2KmDOz3hBiXkpOnHHj7tpKpmEGS7mMX4POUWc-y0Xc_HbhleCl8PUcL8QIdDBTTYq9yq9M-skRmjjlu2HUoLv-BXbeLDNmmjbY4/s400/P1090086.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663957291477705634" border="0" /></a>The Hawks Town Mall is pretty new, having opened in 2000. It was part of a larger development of the area on reclaimed land which included the SeaHawk Hotel and the Fukuoka Dome itself. The original plans date back to the late 80s during the height of the bubble when the Hawks first moved to Fukuoka from their old home in Osaka. The overly ambitious early plans envisioned two domes being built, though the second dome was later dropped from the plans.<br /><br />The whole place was bought by a <a href="http://www.gic.com.sg/newsroom/news/article/12-apr-2007">Singaporean fund</a>, GIC, in 2007 and by the looks of it they have had some trouble trying to keep the Mall running.<br /><br />I say this because when we arrived in 2008 it was very obvious that they were having trouble finding tenants to fill the place. Back then most of the shops were at least open, but there was an abundance of empty space. It seemed like they were giving massive stores to businesses that only had enough merchandise to fill about half the space they were given. This Hawks souvenir shop I visited yesterday would be one example:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhRUaukzxc_0_qBmt6CrtGFVG1z2blgC_vU9d9OgxoUm4NTKHgWGIr-2WrPHt7VF3Zh8VtvS_TQNbzRP4e6RncKAOubPmG3tgDag-wH2iQdNUDIebsWh0du9MbtsGVvNe9i6YVxdnsOU/s1600/P1090102.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhRUaukzxc_0_qBmt6CrtGFVG1z2blgC_vU9d9OgxoUm4NTKHgWGIr-2WrPHt7VF3Zh8VtvS_TQNbzRP4e6RncKAOubPmG3tgDag-wH2iQdNUDIebsWh0du9MbtsGVvNe9i6YVxdnsOU/s400/P1090102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663951746641152450" border="0" /></a>Huge aisles and racks about half full. You almost never see this type of inefficient use of space in Japan, where shops are normally packed to the rafters with almost no elbow room.<br /><br />Over the years though even this strategy proved incapable of keeping all the shops occupied and boarded up storefronts began to appear.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99fOwjGTJXkLXYFOuGE_3E3RQXwQ8FBBZd-QYw2in-q14yIsEFJYI_OnU6Cpd-mvBOF_TrsNp67kMan7gCjIniX6nDTJUvuHycVU3hHJfNQQNdvGoCjdeBq2quSWwqStYg_IY7aVCqNY/s1600/P1090085.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99fOwjGTJXkLXYFOuGE_3E3RQXwQ8FBBZd-QYw2in-q14yIsEFJYI_OnU6Cpd-mvBOF_TrsNp67kMan7gCjIniX6nDTJUvuHycVU3hHJfNQQNdvGoCjdeBq2quSWwqStYg_IY7aVCqNY/s400/P1090085.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663952830548858226" border="0" /></a>By the time I visited yesterday, it was apparent that the problem was spiralling out of control. Empty shops were everywhere.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1H2-mGUdN4mEmQxt34RClTUMQxmi82Xk5m1jcPOGvqM_DcZyn78a4lp6iDvSbXhJidzsBCAr-jl5KtjLIWBskZKQpETGgeFD36N0XwVxZE2ZUjsPiNAzXt01vnzdcLLvwMAuhaq_xNg/s1600/P1090089.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1H2-mGUdN4mEmQxt34RClTUMQxmi82Xk5m1jcPOGvqM_DcZyn78a4lp6iDvSbXhJidzsBCAr-jl5KtjLIWBskZKQpETGgeFD36N0XwVxZE2ZUjsPiNAzXt01vnzdcLLvwMAuhaq_xNg/s400/P1090089.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663874172834005906" border="0" /></a>Wandering around I discovered that a couple of entire wings of the mall had been closed off:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLMaXJx3LE5ORHwcXa8BMQTkCEz5NlWc_LufskGkHtAqTLefI3xJTrvZN4YiiOIoaazPBGz7Jzzp8u7nmIcBsADFkUxfAbpPWJIwY0KrCLnr3jHRsaYQglA_9mnUzuh-ib9KgWRxudyI/s1600/P1090090.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLMaXJx3LE5ORHwcXa8BMQTkCEz5NlWc_LufskGkHtAqTLefI3xJTrvZN4YiiOIoaazPBGz7Jzzp8u7nmIcBsADFkUxfAbpPWJIwY0KrCLnr3jHRsaYQglA_9mnUzuh-ib9KgWRxudyI/s400/P1090090.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663874177814517330" border="0" /></a>Behind the temporary screens, dozens of store sit empty and silent:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBCrqik0xzN8u4_Eq9HDtVq5wBx5Db3V5gAvy41fjz-WV26Xt_AtjQ6EX3pjUkGnc39t4eVV3gIsTw7pl9cMelEl31WXe9jj9VOIP7LNcQerM5LatGSCC9eNGa4XjlqyfC3clIeGbKyw/s1600/Hawks+Town+Mall+Fukuoka+Dead+Mall+Japan.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBCrqik0xzN8u4_Eq9HDtVq5wBx5Db3V5gAvy41fjz-WV26Xt_AtjQ6EX3pjUkGnc39t4eVV3gIsTw7pl9cMelEl31WXe9jj9VOIP7LNcQerM5LatGSCC9eNGa4XjlqyfC3clIeGbKyw/s400/Hawks+Town+Mall+Fukuoka+Dead+Mall+Japan.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690621622634788434" border="0" /></a>The Hawks Town Mall has two floors and before these wings were closed off it had a rather sprawling layout. Just about everywhere you go you see bits where they have closed hallways off:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbh_zLGqzXhvWiKJBrsykQiFKSmTNWWymEXfOGO4Q-yxdEqZDd10I3t4ldFpaMgNm3mvA9u3LKJaGNCX5ESepGUuapijKXKYqjqXnXNbFBBORLJX717Kg-6kjYmI2mVO090dDb5Xg0dY/s1600/P1090094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbh_zLGqzXhvWiKJBrsykQiFKSmTNWWymEXfOGO4Q-yxdEqZDd10I3t4ldFpaMgNm3mvA9u3LKJaGNCX5ESepGUuapijKXKYqjqXnXNbFBBORLJX717Kg-6kjYmI2mVO090dDb5Xg0dY/s400/P1090094.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663877523451049938" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBo-ZL-aVZpIn1smA5wLiARwIJNbzyxh0trXCLDfBkZaY0jL-AlUafWl-7g5MY2AHEqC89A8Y7iVP4ecZ9RSo0DjS8mPDbRuyV9fe-AN_4SOUevfAo37jYQVor2MpzZ5QsAdLQ2wsfq70/s1600/P1090097.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBo-ZL-aVZpIn1smA5wLiARwIJNbzyxh0trXCLDfBkZaY0jL-AlUafWl-7g5MY2AHEqC89A8Y7iVP4ecZ9RSo0DjS8mPDbRuyV9fe-AN_4SOUevfAo37jYQVor2MpzZ5QsAdLQ2wsfq70/s400/P1090097.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663877535962203154" border="0" /></a>I`m not sure why the mall has done so poorly. It is one of three major mall projects in Fukuoka. The first one, <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2008/10/canal-city-and-downtown-fukuoka.html">Canal City</a>, is doing quite well and in fact just expanded. The second one, Marinoa, is having problems. It used to have the largest ferris wheel in Japan, but a few months ago the <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/death-of-japans-largest-ferris-wheel.html">thing collapsed</a> while workers were disassembling it, crushing a few cars and damaging a hotel attached to the mall.<br /><br />Canal City, it should be noted, is in a very busy part of town right next to the Nakasu entertainment district, so it has no problem getting people in the doors. Hawks Town Mall and Marinoa, on the other hand, are in much less convenient locations on the periphery of town and neither has a direct subway or train link, which probably explains part of their problems. If you visit the Hawks Town Mall on a day when the Hawks aren`t playing a home game it is likely to be almost completely deserted. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghs95vsbPh9OwAGoGnWUAuuXmP5mOY7PxtY6zs-q2M_DodYii2gucvxJ3PkW-A9DNbp7zpor63M78mf2gpvE4B6J_EaAGd82flEJFvjFUKuqZnsex0epjxDW0jmgrh8wI9XI1fsFYo-pM/s1600/P1090096.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghs95vsbPh9OwAGoGnWUAuuXmP5mOY7PxtY6zs-q2M_DodYii2gucvxJ3PkW-A9DNbp7zpor63M78mf2gpvE4B6J_EaAGd82flEJFvjFUKuqZnsex0epjxDW0jmgrh8wI9XI1fsFYo-pM/s400/P1090096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663877534332163074" border="0" /></a>It also doesn`t help much that Hawks Town, despite what the tourist information says, is not a particularly interesting piece of architecture. While a lot of people don`t like it, Canal City at least has the benefit of looking interesting and having a lot of flair in its design. Hawks Town Mall is, in contrast, your typical cheaply made piece of functional dreck that most malls are built like. And the shopping isn`t particularly good either, other than a Toys R Us its largest shops seem to mostly be ones selling Hawks souvenirs, which do all their business on days when the Hawks have home games (less than 80 days a year) and are of limited interest to anyone the rest of the time.<br /><br />Anyway, if you enjoy that sense of schadenfreude at seeing big, ill-conceived mega projects that have failed completely - a trip to the Hawks Town Mall is for you!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-84348574658444026382011-10-14T03:36:00.000-07:002011-10-14T03:54:27.122-07:00Resurrecting the Blog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaiqx8cucIbPk6kX-tPRxlDO_oHcnScyOZl3wsGS5FZfHEi7mwX16ul3TA2ISOdYW3Z0Vn0f3iAs-bL9p7f_HuhvaZJZzdt58CIolwR_4lhSRJqQhck4gGwc-wYVilnz0te50sXMhcuA/s1600/P1080996.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaiqx8cucIbPk6kX-tPRxlDO_oHcnScyOZl3wsGS5FZfHEi7mwX16ul3TA2ISOdYW3Z0Vn0f3iAs-bL9p7f_HuhvaZJZzdt58CIolwR_4lhSRJqQhck4gGwc-wYVilnz0te50sXMhcuA/s400/P1080996.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663296166532500930" border="0" /></a>Its been about 3 months since I updated this blog, which is skirting the edge of `dead blog` territory.<br /><br />Part of the lack of posting has been time related - I`ve been quite busy lately. Another part has been dog related - since we got the dog we haven`t taken as many day trips as we used to and those were the type of thing I used to blog about here the most so without them, my blog material sort of dried up.<br /><br />Anyway, I really like this blog so I thought I should post something - anything - to keep it afloat for at least a little while longer!<br /><br />On the weekend Ena and I had a good day off together, which provided me with a little something to write about. October is a really great month in Fukuoka, the weather is perfect. We had lunch at this restaurant in Tenjin Central Park that is located in a historical building, pictured at the top of this post.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifH3C46sEzuFmTwO6FEjRfqAlHrviDaruVvvHUa-u2cpesz6i_3Z_txC-4HTKr6-HRRknyhdEJnGrxSnQXd_E-lUBqzkofGCwRJGUksAJZL5TORAAOot3QSu8FExXj8NJOcfq-ecXGse4/s1600/P1080991.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifH3C46sEzuFmTwO6FEjRfqAlHrviDaruVvvHUa-u2cpesz6i_3Z_txC-4HTKr6-HRRknyhdEJnGrxSnQXd_E-lUBqzkofGCwRJGUksAJZL5TORAAOot3QSu8FExXj8NJOcfq-ecXGse4/s400/P1080991.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663296151596201458" border="0" /></a>We had been meaning to eat there ever since we moved here 3 years ago but never seemed to find the best opportunity so we just said `screw it, we`re trying this place`. It was quite nice, they have a good lunch set which is reasonably priced. The interior is pretty cool too, very Meiji retro.<br /><br />After that we cycled over to Ohori Koen where we rented a rowboat and did a half hour spin around the lake.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9T9oLQzhhJS4L8vfK4avytz8JwD6E07_JXEsxtKV-J4FExBtlBfO-zGa53S0ES21OkyL2UQx92e3PpyEe0BydrKce-JoWxOaQaZ9-b-N9Bcf3sns65ndgvkVvygMsSUIv1myLw-LgLw/s1600/P1090006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9T9oLQzhhJS4L8vfK4avytz8JwD6E07_JXEsxtKV-J4FExBtlBfO-zGa53S0ES21OkyL2UQx92e3PpyEe0BydrKce-JoWxOaQaZ9-b-N9Bcf3sns65ndgvkVvygMsSUIv1myLw-LgLw/s400/P1090006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663297449809077826" border="0" /></a>Ena let me take over the oars after a bit:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNiaUp3YvaQym-Y0mr9oi-ocs8EAG_ACMc8g9VGbZA8FPdE-0R-vQd82Ks6RnH7rkXD4eIES4PV82MWsyeW5zU2Nf8-9VVXEUKXwuGcdM_FcJKmYJP_cfDtTQFb9kEjirQm05XFuyIhA/s1600/P1090004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNiaUp3YvaQym-Y0mr9oi-ocs8EAG_ACMc8g9VGbZA8FPdE-0R-vQd82Ks6RnH7rkXD4eIES4PV82MWsyeW5zU2Nf8-9VVXEUKXwuGcdM_FcJKmYJP_cfDtTQFb9kEjirQm05XFuyIhA/s400/P1090004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663297454399527506" border="0" /></a>Hard to imagine a better place to be than in a rowboat on a pleasant lake in the park on a nice sunny day. All in all a very nice day!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-79220805591147935752011-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:002011-07-10T20:16:39.939-07:00Putting Stickers on Bikes and the Chiba Lotte Marine's Bus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKLqMetNkXjXjCTBn543AO70-kk8hohgZyGuZMfYWgDpZM5vwgH9oBNrKnX099efpnJnEvfa2C6KhzvQIGCVspqTEbA-tq-_NJvYXrgANTMDmUvVK1hBNyd8Fb42BXq5xDkubzgJlM-c/s1600/ena3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKLqMetNkXjXjCTBn543AO70-kk8hohgZyGuZMfYWgDpZM5vwgH9oBNrKnX099efpnJnEvfa2C6KhzvQIGCVspqTEbA-tq-_NJvYXrgANTMDmUvVK1hBNyd8Fb42BXq5xDkubzgJlM-c/s400/ena3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627924831635202466" border="0" /></a>The rainy season has finally finished and we had our first weekend with some sunny weather so the two of us headed downtown yesterday sans dog.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO2CE8MagWHlM8RlYFLbfq2Rj2vQ5I0Dtp59jeugpbmm6T8CuQFw_L44uf7Z6hWJKH3hqJU9XNlWxLR3dSUj5bU3ENOKIPxoaFgXdR9fblDaddZt7ty09idsw9Ma9qwLx3N80SPj9iEo/s1600/ena1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO2CE8MagWHlM8RlYFLbfq2Rj2vQ5I0Dtp59jeugpbmm6T8CuQFw_L44uf7Z6hWJKH3hqJU9XNlWxLR3dSUj5bU3ENOKIPxoaFgXdR9fblDaddZt7ty09idsw9Ma9qwLx3N80SPj9iEo/s400/ena1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627924823350826802" border="0" /></a>Ena suggested inaugurating my new bike with some stickers. So we went to the loft and I chose a sheet of 1970s style Marvel Super Hero faces:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKM7BZtD_fH3nIhv-xLkXvsqJZtWkh-TPO6o4M7i21YXQZk_urJYQdCDUmPZrhfLkp8f8KjtA3eoe98aPv5OPSwjcq6tb7JY3_ebjsxGUM9AOo5YO4JTueQCD4n4MnZM4ppCS8Nkm9QY/s1600/ena5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKM7BZtD_fH3nIhv-xLkXvsqJZtWkh-TPO6o4M7i21YXQZk_urJYQdCDUmPZrhfLkp8f8KjtA3eoe98aPv5OPSwjcq6tb7JY3_ebjsxGUM9AOo5YO4JTueQCD4n4MnZM4ppCS8Nkm9QY/s400/ena5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627924840149030402" border="0" /></a>And Ena got some penguins for hers:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc8L7qgWaC6byebGh1F1f9gQ4qbyOaQZH0wNEY410ekiWbZA-zgBb0vlxbiQ7GMf4Fk38RLXGwFFW75ZTYscCI5lN_Vp51QBWomfns7FLXYDmje1V24MEpRjv5b9YFT_8a4cQyYUukGw/s1600/ena4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc8L7qgWaC6byebGh1F1f9gQ4qbyOaQZH0wNEY410ekiWbZA-zgBb0vlxbiQ7GMf4Fk38RLXGwFFW75ZTYscCI5lN_Vp51QBWomfns7FLXYDmje1V24MEpRjv5b9YFT_8a4cQyYUukGw/s400/ena4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627924831530086098" border="0" /></a>I put Iron Man on mine:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXx9JBIjHsIJj_aZwytabGkHEyb8VLOjyFqj8qMDlv5AozZZMf9CFEiAoUE4sCqtBxGdCmB6_dOXhSIzDIW8mUAELOyP-jx2t6bTvtILewKqAsD35PknJQoqwwntr9x9WgFQIrgojjzhI/s1600/ena6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXx9JBIjHsIJj_aZwytabGkHEyb8VLOjyFqj8qMDlv5AozZZMf9CFEiAoUE4sCqtBxGdCmB6_dOXhSIzDIW8mUAELOyP-jx2t6bTvtILewKqAsD35PknJQoqwwntr9x9WgFQIrgojjzhI/s400/ena6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925142994137042" border="0" /></a>and Ena put the penguins on hers:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI2XWkdt-pnjZN_rXlq602DYVM783qD52gd7twGm0qXRmwW22HtNAnQk4D0-OopNweCccppfVCydCgbKBtGo6B7OFGfY5-35QiSbT40Qr7Zf5WBKVRa3xxEwMsDJX-gL4_2zO69z9JF4/s1600/ena7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI2XWkdt-pnjZN_rXlq602DYVM783qD52gd7twGm0qXRmwW22HtNAnQk4D0-OopNweCccppfVCydCgbKBtGo6B7OFGfY5-35QiSbT40Qr7Zf5WBKVRa3xxEwMsDJX-gL4_2zO69z9JF4/s400/ena7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925145588028738" border="0" /></a>I got a whole bunch of points on my card at Bic Camera when I bought my new bike, so we stopped there so I could splurge on some more bike swag:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OAdeAMZ1JKn8y8A1uKKTagvwjXJ93qzptUSJ8NRdkYKJurW6dpDjItE3auqDwuj0Gks3PuWX6wi_op1gJ8dN6FNrGx1BWiLfJJjFcNgtFg3nLkw_uZ6nfB4uC8AJoCAW50LfgBigVN8/s1600/ena8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OAdeAMZ1JKn8y8A1uKKTagvwjXJ93qzptUSJ8NRdkYKJurW6dpDjItE3auqDwuj0Gks3PuWX6wi_op1gJ8dN6FNrGx1BWiLfJJjFcNgtFg3nLkw_uZ6nfB4uC8AJoCAW50LfgBigVN8/s400/ena8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925152831626290" border="0" /></a>My bike now has its own computer with speedometer, odometer, clock, and a whole bunch of other stuff. <br /><br />We went for a pretty nice, though hot, bike ride out to Marinoa and back. On the return trip we rode past the Fukuoka Dome, where a game had just ended. The visiting team (Chiba Lotte Marines) were just leaving the stadium via their team bus as we rode by. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHTugBQxTD2L6YSigUTPGvqx-cOHXFs56MLzygK5aW6NgRag0il5WI3yjbLT3hjvcrHHriiP_Fas1L-d5nhNCjfuDW-uzlSV0SFJjBgT8W52G_y3uoGBzM0r9Q2mv9-fnmSbA2ANUEMI/s1600/ena9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHTugBQxTD2L6YSigUTPGvqx-cOHXFs56MLzygK5aW6NgRag0il5WI3yjbLT3hjvcrHHriiP_Fas1L-d5nhNCjfuDW-uzlSV0SFJjBgT8W52G_y3uoGBzM0r9Q2mv9-fnmSbA2ANUEMI/s400/ena9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925158341687650" border="0" /></a>We noticed the crowd of fans swarming around and joined them for a few minutes:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVM3FfM2qpLy0PzVZ5as4qZPwrmO6_TB3w5GaypNGV3aU0L9LKZN0vDkwmrcrEVD6Xa6enk3-fgfI7sTwt5pD19btV6BcgLzbagSEhYSDrYHQ1mwtU8FyNe1Upo51n9NU2nPOm8Gtjlks/s1600/ena10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVM3FfM2qpLy0PzVZ5as4qZPwrmO6_TB3w5GaypNGV3aU0L9LKZN0vDkwmrcrEVD6Xa6enk3-fgfI7sTwt5pD19btV6BcgLzbagSEhYSDrYHQ1mwtU8FyNe1Upo51n9NU2nPOm8Gtjlks/s400/ena10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925163046396210" border="0" /></a>Watching people slowly get on a bus one by one isn't a particularly entertaining activity so we only hung around for a couple of minutes.<br /><br />We stopped for dinner on the way back at an outdoor patio along the river in Nakasu. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PWuw4hHU89S1LGBLuch1Cq6yyWd7vuB__1yPZtBzX6gmD7tW5T-7unABEShKiFuF_Re1bGkLjgl2Yz_THLP9JZCNdAyg8z7f_KU8stpedmBfzxduaG8RenCI9OTkGHuC0OIYL_xN4V0/s1600/ena11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PWuw4hHU89S1LGBLuch1Cq6yyWd7vuB__1yPZtBzX6gmD7tW5T-7unABEShKiFuF_Re1bGkLjgl2Yz_THLP9JZCNdAyg8z7f_KU8stpedmBfzxduaG8RenCI9OTkGHuC0OIYL_xN4V0/s400/ena11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925469117418642" border="0" /></a>Its the perfect place to rest after a long hot summer's day:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCiHm2Dx8fcATf7K2EbLX9u-6GE8pI0t7LroOeomnqHtCjwM3uQKObHTGo1vsj4-qyY_lP1aFXQtBhw4Q3N5HjLp-wjyGpyReWb01V4GlDRJ9pgjzv9JNvLhyphenhyphennPq4gTUy5GxpLBCwTLQ/s1600/ena12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCiHm2Dx8fcATf7K2EbLX9u-6GE8pI0t7LroOeomnqHtCjwM3uQKObHTGo1vsj4-qyY_lP1aFXQtBhw4Q3N5HjLp-wjyGpyReWb01V4GlDRJ9pgjzv9JNvLhyphenhyphennPq4gTUy5GxpLBCwTLQ/s400/ena12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627925471203263442" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-15819558444764521062011-07-09T01:52:00.000-07:002011-07-09T03:42:26.516-07:00Got M'self a New Bicycle Today.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mAmMLEQeVb3pbEHky9GSLfs9Wf8Z6-kreCxV7z57DR4onRbhT3dVza4QOftnoOlEh5qwLKErPS4i-HpN32bU2DPGA1Bu809DfWGQcldVVgjJYbrfkvj-OLmanEffh-nyQJxxVClLg68/s1600/bike1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mAmMLEQeVb3pbEHky9GSLfs9Wf8Z6-kreCxV7z57DR4onRbhT3dVza4QOftnoOlEh5qwLKErPS4i-HpN32bU2DPGA1Bu809DfWGQcldVVgjJYbrfkvj-OLmanEffh-nyQJxxVClLg68/s400/bike1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627273977705097410" border="0" /></a>If seven time Tour de France champion and suspected dope fiend Lance Armstrong were to come up to me one day and ask:<br /><br />"Sean, tell me about your new bike. Describe it for me in three words or less."<br /><br />I would say to him:<br /><br />"Well, Lance, thanks for asking. The three words that would best describe it are: very, very yellow.''<br /><br />And that would probably be the end of the conversation.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW5uTGWCISXaw6IiTne3eR5RyHYU4pKJOz-74m0pdfTp9z_T5wLE5xeNK1zY6Bm9673Jtx4C-WBGOUK09rviFWbhskkD9aOXCog9EfDlXRKEkKi3PntIroDEwEuzHlMf3P_S1cRYYr_s/s1600/bike5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW5uTGWCISXaw6IiTne3eR5RyHYU4pKJOz-74m0pdfTp9z_T5wLE5xeNK1zY6Bm9673Jtx4C-WBGOUK09rviFWbhskkD9aOXCog9EfDlXRKEkKi3PntIroDEwEuzHlMf3P_S1cRYYr_s/s400/bike5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627273986190566738" border="0" /></a>I didn't intend to buy a new bicycle when I woke this morning. I was supposed to spend this sunny day entirely in my study room looking at a computer screen.<br /><br />Thankfully on my way in my old bicycle suddenly broke down. A spoke on the back wheel snapped, making a huge bang. The wheel started to wobble after that and the thing became un-rideable. This is the third time that bike has suffered a broken spoke for no apparent reason.<br /><br />I took it to the nearest repair shop and they said it'll take them 2-3 weeks to fix it, which is what it usually takes them.<br /><br />After leaving it there and pondering 2-3 weeks without wheels for a second, I decided it was time to get a new bike.<br /><br />I've noticed that in Higashi Ku everyone rides really boring bikes. Functional and colorless. We are not a stylish people, us Higashi Ku-ians.<br /><br />Go downtown though and it is wall to wall hep cats riding much cooler looking bikes. Sleek, colorful and smoove. I've always wanted one of them stylish bikes the city folk downtown ride. So I decided to get on the train and go around to some of the hep cat bike shops in Tenjin to see what they had.<br /><br />I went to a few. I eventually decided on this one. Its just so...very very yellow. The grips on the handlebars are very very yellow:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjiA5eKJCXZKH7YcAjrM5RSQrbhWP3fFPVZAR5RkXi8t3Dllu8FXZ7y0Auc_GevBfBmzGUEKE2B7ShKhUMnpI33xAPG4rh2TFotOYcfa48z0kBD6zRR_hZJ3GAxwRnpB90FccMP7uSO0/s1600/bike2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjiA5eKJCXZKH7YcAjrM5RSQrbhWP3fFPVZAR5RkXi8t3Dllu8FXZ7y0Auc_GevBfBmzGUEKE2B7ShKhUMnpI33xAPG4rh2TFotOYcfa48z0kBD6zRR_hZJ3GAxwRnpB90FccMP7uSO0/s400/bike2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627273979160185218" border="0" /></a>The seat is very very yellow:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bBJ2OmihJKRyciV0Tx2suDgUodjyzG8hYIde6VdhO3EHeD71uAnKj9rNE-VjiICP1rhPfhkqdI0ZFqprrj9oYTlulB2qIGqPyFVpp06MN_65B07FDwvD9Q3EsdcXvCqLw9_cG7UCVh0/s1600/bike3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bBJ2OmihJKRyciV0Tx2suDgUodjyzG8hYIde6VdhO3EHeD71uAnKj9rNE-VjiICP1rhPfhkqdI0ZFqprrj9oYTlulB2qIGqPyFVpp06MN_65B07FDwvD9Q3EsdcXvCqLw9_cG7UCVh0/s400/bike3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627273982993525394" border="0" /></a>Even the chain is very very yellow:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeYbPWR6RI_4IM8yN4mI6CpV9jSjw28F3X25iNtRSffIm_N-mbmnbezCTaiXm3gfeF6c1QI9HXYEwdPXfNv_m7qRBqDlC0HGjJMV8c_n_vM-wwtFya8UUPo2W4wkstafmvLquyXYhqRw/s1600/bike4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeYbPWR6RI_4IM8yN4mI6CpV9jSjw28F3X25iNtRSffIm_N-mbmnbezCTaiXm3gfeF6c1QI9HXYEwdPXfNv_m7qRBqDlC0HGjJMV8c_n_vM-wwtFya8UUPo2W4wkstafmvLquyXYhqRw/s400/bike4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627273981870406290" border="0" /></a>It provides a refreshing contrast with my shoes, which are very very blue:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3bQBlVLzREBGPe0zpUPPoV8sYlLokrLA8x42pgVr4oWyLyVCnSOLyfS-tLwgQZShMK9pbhzHZVxp-1Pgiz8ub0tNj4fzrb0vSdfQlYgvOokUsyVX7hXLejmRGx-YFVyd8yYF1KSEtR8/s1600/bike6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3bQBlVLzREBGPe0zpUPPoV8sYlLokrLA8x42pgVr4oWyLyVCnSOLyfS-tLwgQZShMK9pbhzHZVxp-1Pgiz8ub0tNj4fzrb0vSdfQlYgvOokUsyVX7hXLejmRGx-YFVyd8yYF1KSEtR8/s400/bike6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627274276498385378" border="0" /></a>And if you ride it on those yellow bits of the sidewalk for blind people, it becomes completely camouflaged when viewed from above. Very useful if you are being chased by a helicopter:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjtTYkDF51AwcsKNf_UzO3OydNTjt_Yh4GK_67fhYs-2jgroYev_FPFcs0GKis5Y5dnymR1lUK-yPdB1kVcxcUCTpWRQxpv00V4s2BY0WytJjhLPgUqQGcsH79zTwJVNa8IAc88YjpHQ/s1600/bike7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjtTYkDF51AwcsKNf_UzO3OydNTjt_Yh4GK_67fhYs-2jgroYev_FPFcs0GKis5Y5dnymR1lUK-yPdB1kVcxcUCTpWRQxpv00V4s2BY0WytJjhLPgUqQGcsH79zTwJVNa8IAc88YjpHQ/s400/bike7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627274275070730994" border="0" /></a>This thing is the complete opposite of my old bike, which is all black and gray. On the down side my new very very yellow bike doesn't have a basket or fenders, so it can't completely replace the old one, which will still be doing shopping duties. This one weighs about half as much and I can go much much faster on it than can possibly be safe for me, so I'll just use it for high speed chases and that sort of thing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-81158256266370281562011-06-20T17:03:00.000-07:002011-06-20T17:22:01.839-07:00my frst wok by doogle<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQDMUN0LdaT7W5dre5jzH4oCia4yGtkbiDKQweXt6JZWRPfQmS_5o4u2qzO-FsE4ud6dCorzSrr-yxasxKjt1boTxMyvAhzOqSXIixxBLnYHSLwUmRuZ1bHX4YLl9Xj_aO5ZoEvcyE1k/s1600/doogle11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQDMUN0LdaT7W5dre5jzH4oCia4yGtkbiDKQweXt6JZWRPfQmS_5o4u2qzO-FsE4ud6dCorzSrr-yxasxKjt1boTxMyvAhzOqSXIixxBLnYHSLwUmRuZ1bHX4YLl9Xj_aO5ZoEvcyE1k/s400/doogle11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458666190023106" border="0" /></a>my name iz doogle and i went fo a wok today and it wuz my frst wok and it wuz fun and i wiked it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1O4MsixNuJZO5r6XnVT4VhmlEPjK3pIGn7ZK6BvtVgzoETjVBwM24Xf6zrJ8HqNSqsYzHvoBfQUk4bvI69V5AfDlMz6H9Fo7PQ6cXZh3GR50dust8ryMXyCG6CSdMse4yPA5MZAMkkY/s1600/doogle2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1O4MsixNuJZO5r6XnVT4VhmlEPjK3pIGn7ZK6BvtVgzoETjVBwM24Xf6zrJ8HqNSqsYzHvoBfQUk4bvI69V5AfDlMz6H9Fo7PQ6cXZh3GR50dust8ryMXyCG6CSdMse4yPA5MZAMkkY/s400/doogle2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620457811244374658" border="0" /></a>at frst it wuz not fun and i didn wike it and i did not wont to go fo a wok.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFqA2uk4XURpqrabLGg9RbDBHDqSkhhFd5tpeE6AIp4ox_4BoS-DtsoKFfpe7Kl2-ffAAyWCdlOVfmjWa50T1kPsWzYV8Gip5-YkGCG4-ZveE4jM6MYDtWVeO6zGiaugB1qQGi5J5s3o/s1600/Doogle1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFqA2uk4XURpqrabLGg9RbDBHDqSkhhFd5tpeE6AIp4ox_4BoS-DtsoKFfpe7Kl2-ffAAyWCdlOVfmjWa50T1kPsWzYV8Gip5-YkGCG4-ZveE4jM6MYDtWVeO6zGiaugB1qQGi5J5s3o/s400/Doogle1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620457806093537666" border="0" /></a>my atitude wemained the same for some time. i wuz vewy stubbon.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhJU6A12Y0nC-SVF-SNBKpXAaNPZArndnoe9ajStRV8WgcJwlPj69YUi42b9TwXkGpkt5wRLRtTgZApMeDwXniZEnc37jnna4GUGoZLtfzaJaNyFIKJneGh8gQuAuMjCxoChxfcBzHhw/s1600/doogle3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhJU6A12Y0nC-SVF-SNBKpXAaNPZArndnoe9ajStRV8WgcJwlPj69YUi42b9TwXkGpkt5wRLRtTgZApMeDwXniZEnc37jnna4GUGoZLtfzaJaNyFIKJneGh8gQuAuMjCxoChxfcBzHhw/s400/doogle3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620457814668654322" border="0" /></a>den I sat between enas feet becuz i am vewy manipulatib. Emoshunally speaking.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7RHt8eVuhre8N4qBMqoKQc4wrijiN6jeCK5iHNywFmFgAJdYxteG2CkBwohKgNm5Y5Nl0adpEQhyM5Eeql8HZ_z5vc_EiIydTplWtyOsLrB73c4_dYTX5lQ30C4rMPXp08yKSESZpoA/s1600/doogle4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7RHt8eVuhre8N4qBMqoKQc4wrijiN6jeCK5iHNywFmFgAJdYxteG2CkBwohKgNm5Y5Nl0adpEQhyM5Eeql8HZ_z5vc_EiIydTplWtyOsLrB73c4_dYTX5lQ30C4rMPXp08yKSESZpoA/s400/doogle4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620457990528733666" border="0" /></a>Yes, mor of de same.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxaj9P7XlKcwxce23reVIr9rxkLb6BxkxmDNNtrM0m4e4trmkNmnx3BhHMsH-BAdDdOFVYt8OELoflQdka_aKuBjy4zuOGLeAdswyctA93p2Rpws9QB9rDdBWCT-HboI2A9lvy_R_T98/s1600/doogle7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxaj9P7XlKcwxce23reVIr9rxkLb6BxkxmDNNtrM0m4e4trmkNmnx3BhHMsH-BAdDdOFVYt8OELoflQdka_aKuBjy4zuOGLeAdswyctA93p2Rpws9QB9rDdBWCT-HboI2A9lvy_R_T98/s400/doogle7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458499710620386" border="0" /></a>den i stawted to wok and de humanz wer vewy happy.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLTwQRxxb4ykU_1Lt4a7YE-eJFEXsy_BKUwCpMg_7uwAV9JxeCYe9sCdH3xbsxtqhhYfBh4aUbm1v3HcezdXA4tYVNemVsNul1RPJzcrFAg4KtaQy1oLfjhXYaq1JiEvGIw34IUxEbJs/s1600/doogle8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLTwQRxxb4ykU_1Lt4a7YE-eJFEXsy_BKUwCpMg_7uwAV9JxeCYe9sCdH3xbsxtqhhYfBh4aUbm1v3HcezdXA4tYVNemVsNul1RPJzcrFAg4KtaQy1oLfjhXYaq1JiEvGIw34IUxEbJs/s400/doogle8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458500946277202" border="0" /></a>i wuz vewy good at woking but i don no how to cop with dis weash thing so i got vewy angwy, tho you cant tell dat from dis foto.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAWOVaSopm5wrGpnzi82XEfG6O2tjQ6K26zhMsXWCRct-zEBfwPB5RkF_bYBvOcdG79oVYs4drSScWdO0tI_PcsmpPZVIS39Vm3Q2MTKs5-Layysn9Pq6m5tCAW8oLAfWgPaDG-_Qka0/s1600/doogle5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAWOVaSopm5wrGpnzi82XEfG6O2tjQ6K26zhMsXWCRct-zEBfwPB5RkF_bYBvOcdG79oVYs4drSScWdO0tI_PcsmpPZVIS39Vm3Q2MTKs5-Layysn9Pq6m5tCAW8oLAfWgPaDG-_Qka0/s400/doogle5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458002831569890" border="0" /></a>i wuz getting tird of all de attenshun so i woked rite off camewa.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXcozXllLc4QrfuHPlx5yXWzOQWJXY7B6_9Tzp7-n2GC2EMB3yc5n_XmON90Qn3r-8AHtWIllHFBBVRDWh2ayZiXHjthpeoNp93AyOsD9ow4wYgw6DcL58zl5ylho20EIxED2r4L9pZg/s1600/doogle6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXcozXllLc4QrfuHPlx5yXWzOQWJXY7B6_9Tzp7-n2GC2EMB3yc5n_XmON90Qn3r-8AHtWIllHFBBVRDWh2ayZiXHjthpeoNp93AyOsD9ow4wYgw6DcL58zl5ylho20EIxED2r4L9pZg/s400/doogle6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458006469289234" border="0" /></a>and demanded dat dey take me home dat instant.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Ay0G_tvjJ4vfzEDJa6gDWsgra8yAyKmlzosskMg6legj7rki1VUtyuuoKjv_rLwKrGOZUrQeVeyrUnnImMQv63JfxizaVgYWyCnupmEk-54F5SoCB0IiR-mAgF7c4QCprnK9DTFHJoE/s1600/doogle9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Ay0G_tvjJ4vfzEDJa6gDWsgra8yAyKmlzosskMg6legj7rki1VUtyuuoKjv_rLwKrGOZUrQeVeyrUnnImMQv63JfxizaVgYWyCnupmEk-54F5SoCB0IiR-mAgF7c4QCprnK9DTFHJoE/s400/doogle9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458553331459010" border="0" /></a>so ena pikked me up.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyglzn1IjJ4COHKz-yi7OKEtFGDUQ_YS-QC3CZCi4TkQY7TQWYCP7E3c4xrD7nk0PN0iaN_DeG4MCS1jDlGFjfW3Mwk2GyL01CY0x4RYc-8OjaYfolsiSZqqGwq9Iw8rSd16bBv2rDuo/s1600/doogle10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyglzn1IjJ4COHKz-yi7OKEtFGDUQ_YS-QC3CZCi4TkQY7TQWYCP7E3c4xrD7nk0PN0iaN_DeG4MCS1jDlGFjfW3Mwk2GyL01CY0x4RYc-8OjaYfolsiSZqqGwq9Iw8rSd16bBv2rDuo/s400/doogle10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620458663240295874" border="0" /></a>and we went home togever.<br /><br />de end. by doogle.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-87567789956328650672011-06-03T03:02:00.000-07:002011-06-03T03:14:28.697-07:00This Toy Poodle is no Toy. He is Doogle.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQ1kSgQgomV_bND5tWxAYahThv-HIhk9FcLNH0wVBS7pjd3Ll5AuruSktqtUTQQIDoef_t8aSV8DScNGFzg9LaK2k-Wt44AR0ZaWOR38GwvGPLS8TkqCBzixqCNObAXIRGHWEP687FSM/s1600/Sleepy+Doogle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQ1kSgQgomV_bND5tWxAYahThv-HIhk9FcLNH0wVBS7pjd3Ll5AuruSktqtUTQQIDoef_t8aSV8DScNGFzg9LaK2k-Wt44AR0ZaWOR38GwvGPLS8TkqCBzixqCNObAXIRGHWEP687FSM/s400/Sleepy+Doogle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613932057856757058" border="0" /></a>I thought I'd put up some more pictures of Doogle here. Our computer suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure that wiped out most of my photos, but fortunately these ones were in the memory card to my camera still.<br /><br />Anyway, that isn't important. What is important is Doogle, a fact that he never tires of driving home to us by biting our ankles and ripping the socks off our feet. He is a little frustrated at the moment because he has to wait a few more weeks (ugh) until we can take him out. One more vaccination we keep telling ourselves...one more.<br /><br />Well, we can sort of take him out now, we just can't put him on the ground. Ena bought a little dog carrier for him and we sometimes just carry him around in that. It fits into my bicycle basket perfectly:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYUCq6_MvSX9i5jc3ZLwHkO6bo-g9aOXtyjK0SZox8y1BymXejo1o7FsZ_RWdshJttHhdye-U8HLq50w7_Hgk3fd8Gh7uM9DYmY5lh1xfWoZGJ3nayTN5h7M3NNlCtglN3TnwF_Nx1Mc/s1600/Doogle+on+bike.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYUCq6_MvSX9i5jc3ZLwHkO6bo-g9aOXtyjK0SZox8y1BymXejo1o7FsZ_RWdshJttHhdye-U8HLq50w7_Hgk3fd8Gh7uM9DYmY5lh1xfWoZGJ3nayTN5h7M3NNlCtglN3TnwF_Nx1Mc/s400/Doogle+on+bike.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613932050691740322" border="0" /></a>Sometimes he looks cozy:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WkpXQBy2W4NhFyxfC-lzG4Kj8TvB14XBplfhBGxkYGYvqgy6ShFSgcAshPhdqxM7MEr6YAWO2-MPyEmQTDBg-9TZaCgJ-D5omA_5cxIl8gKaQFgkWXy-rgad6Tdma3CSrF_0MSJCSyo/s1600/Doogle+in+basket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WkpXQBy2W4NhFyxfC-lzG4Kj8TvB14XBplfhBGxkYGYvqgy6ShFSgcAshPhdqxM7MEr6YAWO2-MPyEmQTDBg-9TZaCgJ-D5omA_5cxIl8gKaQFgkWXy-rgad6Tdma3CSrF_0MSJCSyo/s400/Doogle+in+basket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613932043261091810" border="0" /></a>But in general he is not a fan of bicycle trips:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoALDzPs0PpWninVYTej-TllF5dcPyxS4qQGGbrXa9B6jQ57XIZXd1S7gGMRsHqEcXwigrj3GECu6AV5HyhaUY7PWE8nm89eiazurfV6JwOkD0YxI85n22iuRS6AGqp5IWwh0iU1CkwWY/s1600/Doogle+getting+out+of+basket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoALDzPs0PpWninVYTej-TllF5dcPyxS4qQGGbrXa9B6jQ57XIZXd1S7gGMRsHqEcXwigrj3GECu6AV5HyhaUY7PWE8nm89eiazurfV6JwOkD0YxI85n22iuRS6AGqp5IWwh0iU1CkwWY/s400/Doogle+getting+out+of+basket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613932035584386466" border="0" /></a>Another feature of dog ownership we are discovering is that it turns the floor of your home into a massive accumulation of dog-related stuff. We've got pee sheets, dog toys, toilet paper rolls (he likes those), torn up bits of tissue (we hate the fact that he likes those), more dog toys, socks that he has torn of four feet and a ton of other crap. EVERYWHERE. <br /><br />One of his favorite toys is Suzanne here:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_jnoH-lUx7Tqc4Mekytyif9C5-JLQ3qUTzAz_G56MWHlescldTvj3YmRffLI71kcMc16_qXk9rdteYy9UBvCHJIRHXcff7N3X3M66WM_C7eU5Vqvkis0KWR1zuUyxg1bGbnRB8Vrm60/s1600/Doogle+with+Suzanne.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_jnoH-lUx7Tqc4Mekytyif9C5-JLQ3qUTzAz_G56MWHlescldTvj3YmRffLI71kcMc16_qXk9rdteYy9UBvCHJIRHXcff7N3X3M66WM_C7eU5Vqvkis0KWR1zuUyxg1bGbnRB8Vrm60/s400/Doogle+with+Suzanne.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613932051372893346" border="0" /></a>Doogle and Suzanne are a bit of an item. By which I mean they....um...(ahem)....have relations (cough cough). This is another thing the vet tells us we will have to wait a while to have dealt with.<br /><br />Anyway, it is impossible to stay mad at this monster. Look at that face up above. Too damned cute.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-42726254092567957412011-05-29T17:20:00.000-07:002011-05-29T17:41:52.292-07:00Hawks 7 Baystars 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAi717MfYS5oFWv7C8ofOappuOsJatugYd9Yu6XEs0ZMiLcLlb2SNDz0UTTpjrNtyM1OEeHxVlVRig0TaMOt0lqt4EeAXguej8TabH9IMKs32NjA3nIahbtQlNcmcd3-7wDACRU2ZFit0/s1600/P1070279.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAi717MfYS5oFWv7C8ofOappuOsJatugYd9Yu6XEs0ZMiLcLlb2SNDz0UTTpjrNtyM1OEeHxVlVRig0TaMOt0lqt4EeAXguej8TabH9IMKs32NjA3nIahbtQlNcmcd3-7wDACRU2ZFit0/s400/P1070279.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612298948153773266" border="0" /></a>Ena and I saw our first Hawks game of the year yesterday. <br /><br />They've been having an amazing season so far and are comfortably at the top of the Pacific League standings. Their lineup is a murderer's row full of stars, the guy batting 7th in the lineup, Matsuda, is currently leading the league in home runs and their big free agent acquisition in the off season, Uchikawa, is hitting close to .400. <br /><br />We got our usual seats in the right field cheering section.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPgAHt8N069hu2_cXYEoqML0Lb4EmBr4SKpWg-37Tl8gDjIHz8IjyOgoxK4h2lVAtUFFUrQd6qlxiEXqoI0Sg57yTQUbydXRT0be8kM1vicYuGPtDO49iBihYN7hpAPthmpadD15pOWw/s1600/P1070284.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPgAHt8N069hu2_cXYEoqML0Lb4EmBr4SKpWg-37Tl8gDjIHz8IjyOgoxK4h2lVAtUFFUrQd6qlxiEXqoI0Sg57yTQUbydXRT0be8kM1vicYuGPtDO49iBihYN7hpAPthmpadD15pOWw/s400/P1070284.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612298952147688290" border="0" /></a>I had to go to the game from work in the morning so I didn't have my Hawks shirt.<br /><br />It was an inter-league game against the Yokohama Baystars, who are currently last place in the Central League. The Hawks had won 7 in a row going into the game and were undefeated in all their interleague games. They extended both streaks by drubbing the Baystars 7-1, which was fun to see. Matsuda hit a bases loaded triple in the first inning, which was probably the highlight.<br /><br />They changed the big flags that the Hawks' fan groups wave in the 7th inning stretch and after a victory this year:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgRD8Dd4rVhPIk_Ck7hJiSlTbkQ_a813H34R_0uDSHIsiACVk53CfDghm2MtSn0ynUfrCW5ljUsLZWpiRHOvFa94j14IZIZzcb3GpDJYDskcBoeTn8gH_-eZuJJ2ffg7ru_K8ywhCH4I/s1600/P1070298.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgRD8Dd4rVhPIk_Ck7hJiSlTbkQ_a813H34R_0uDSHIsiACVk53CfDghm2MtSn0ynUfrCW5ljUsLZWpiRHOvFa94j14IZIZzcb3GpDJYDskcBoeTn8gH_-eZuJJ2ffg7ru_K8ywhCH4I/s400/P1070298.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612298959607025554" border="0" /></a>Usually the flags feature stuff related to each fan group, but this year they all have messages of support for the prefectures devastated by the tsunami. The one in front of us said "Ganbarou Iwate" ("Do your best, Iwate!").<br /><br />After the win we stuck around for the victory fireworks. I took a video of these at a game last year <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXCyXo87Q-c">here</a>. Always the highlight of a Hawks win, not so much for the fireworks themselves but more for the way the dome looks with the lights out.<br /><br />After that we joined the masses spilling from the stadium into the edge of a typhoon that was passing to the south of Fukuoka. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZ1aeWKVxrea-uL3ycPauGFHV8N6YDTVd3Oiia_lUw2ii6zeccZLk7v2wM5MV8xGdgIShT5vw2wWg_l9ypDQRFxXG7_5UchA2ztQ6UwDXu2SUdIdkfVYCuOsRN-VoylMFIZiUdgZK1BI/s1600/P1070306.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZ1aeWKVxrea-uL3ycPauGFHV8N6YDTVd3Oiia_lUw2ii6zeccZLk7v2wM5MV8xGdgIShT5vw2wWg_l9ypDQRFxXG7_5UchA2ztQ6UwDXu2SUdIdkfVYCuOsRN-VoylMFIZiUdgZK1BI/s400/P1070306.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612299692798288786" border="0" /></a>And made our way to the subway station and home.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-85879375740781755312011-05-17T17:58:00.000-07:002011-12-26T18:01:55.552-08:00Gothic Re-revival: The Fake Churches of Japan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPi5Q2etPpnCVlmn9arDgIcqgkJrWx53Kyuqbh_-9wN3_VNyh38wYRheRGLc0eHppTL8T2JqpiuOofRQGgEbRCEnXAKtjxuwMTXnCukeGF4K7xGXsK_7JLWq2ELiGPLORyuRzJ91JqW0/s1600/Japanese+Wedding+Church+Fake+Cathedral.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPi5Q2etPpnCVlmn9arDgIcqgkJrWx53Kyuqbh_-9wN3_VNyh38wYRheRGLc0eHppTL8T2JqpiuOofRQGgEbRCEnXAKtjxuwMTXnCukeGF4K7xGXsK_7JLWq2ELiGPLORyuRzJ91JqW0/s400/Japanese+Wedding+Church+Fake+Cathedral.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690622446417000802" border="0" /></a>If I had to chose my favorite thing about Japan, it would be the wedding churches. Hands down.<br /><br />At some point - I don't know when - Western style weddings became popular here. It is easy to see how this trend would be faced with a bit of a bottle neck in a country where less than 1% of the population is Christian - not enough churches. Can't have a Western style wedding without a church.<br /><br />There are some actual functioning churches here run by actual followers of the religion, but for the most part these are housed in some of the ugliest post-war architecture imaginable. What this country needed was more gorgeous stuff.<br /><br />Enter the Japanese wedding hall industry, the world's leading provider of solutions to your 'not-gorgeous-enough' problems.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZp91q16heBx3o6WJd9Sii0bLl7vqs1JyOjrSVlg2QDgilTAc5BHMUkAPztVgOolEDL3RSAtcMZtCsxgdDmelTQ-80B7B047JTbhXX8SqdK6ElOBXNzuxaaTOfYxwFtJuiw-E-E5lFgY/s1600/P1050123.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 388px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZp91q16heBx3o6WJd9Sii0bLl7vqs1JyOjrSVlg2QDgilTAc5BHMUkAPztVgOolEDL3RSAtcMZtCsxgdDmelTQ-80B7B047JTbhXX8SqdK6ElOBXNzuxaaTOfYxwFtJuiw-E-E5lFgY/s400/P1050123.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607854637420270914" border="0" /></a>It would be an exaggeration to say that the country is now awash with mini Gothic and Baroque cathedrals, each built of sturdy concrete, plastic and steel and set in the lush surroundings of a sea of asphalt:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeILkpefjMfr9DDyg-_HW3BDdnVM7Gw1O5MLJaf7WNMU1q0dQPMJkyJzPBsoVSbVDvDXbzLz4ZhdHdgAaPsK64gQe2TFBm_TqXRUamFFQl2C_iSAoFF0GPgPeO3Wm54i09JCYxcQn6WI/s1600/P1060430.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeILkpefjMfr9DDyg-_HW3BDdnVM7Gw1O5MLJaf7WNMU1q0dQPMJkyJzPBsoVSbVDvDXbzLz4ZhdHdgAaPsK64gQe2TFBm_TqXRUamFFQl2C_iSAoFF0GPgPeO3Wm54i09JCYxcQn6WI/s400/P1060430.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607855437038222594" border="0" /></a>But only slightly so. Pretty much every city with a population large enough to support one has a steeple or two punctuating its skyline. Fukuoka has several, including all of the ones in the photos here.<br /><br />I'm not a religious person, though I've heard mumblings of disapproval about this sort of thing from Christian acquaintances who are. Having gone to a Catholic school as a child, I do have some inkling that this is the type of stuff that their god does not generally have a sense of humor about. If memory serves, he (or she) is very jealous about the use of his (or her) trademarks for purposes other than acknowledging how great he (or she) is. Kind of like Disney.<br /><br />Anyway, I take no position on the theological debate about these things (if such a debate exists). I just rather enjoy the fact that they are here. I attended a wedding at one once. All I can say is that I am pleased that my own wedding (organized by my fantastic family under the supervision of my wonderful Mom - thanks, mom!) was held in a more modest setting. This isn't so much a comment on the structures themselves, but more on the heavily choreographed nature of the ceremony and reception that the industry puts on. This, of course, is in no way limited to Japan but is a symptom of the wedding industry in most wealthy countries and is more a question of personal taste. Some like them, I don't.<br /><br />But I'm getting off topic here.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphud10cldB9FJjs2duUbAVhcqbeUpJoiG26has1_jvosgik3iMOdPzmy7Asg1QpgPwGbBDPE-q51vfPfkzSojfUrcGmnAE1YkZKoVtyliRC8inPtWmjSjJ-hrCplQ_y4CWbVCsVbhNNU/s1600/P1050120.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphud10cldB9FJjs2duUbAVhcqbeUpJoiG26has1_jvosgik3iMOdPzmy7Asg1QpgPwGbBDPE-q51vfPfkzSojfUrcGmnAE1YkZKoVtyliRC8inPtWmjSjJ-hrCplQ_y4CWbVCsVbhNNU/s400/P1050120.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607855835278716274" border="0" /></a>As I said, these things are great as pieces of the urban landscape. In terms of outlandishness they are only rivaled by pachinko parlors.<br /><br />I am constantly forced to wonder if these things aren't the result of some brilliant piece of absurdist performance art gone horribly wrong. I imagine that thirty years ago two young wedding planners with easy access to no-questions-asked financing and a wry sense of humor were getting drunk while watching Charles and Di's ceremony when one of them just blurted out "Eureka!" The rest is history.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjy-r4IR2yh3UiD5QeryrYYLWn-GeJeqvVj9Pwi7HJixeXxcWTXyGgbboMYz-TWLaIT7zrXfIpPrstNetd8DbGXhGUAlOlVMJo_9MuCLPvaSiIxS0625eKXvjvu3p2rnNyvVD1Zf5Kuc/s1600/P1060416.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjy-r4IR2yh3UiD5QeryrYYLWn-GeJeqvVj9Pwi7HJixeXxcWTXyGgbboMYz-TWLaIT7zrXfIpPrstNetd8DbGXhGUAlOlVMJo_9MuCLPvaSiIxS0625eKXvjvu3p2rnNyvVD1Zf5Kuc/s400/P1060416.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607855437891703970" border="0" /></a>Wonderful, silly things. Gotta love 'em.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-1969883082500049192011-05-08T17:51:00.000-07:002011-05-08T18:48:54.853-07:00Star Wars Action Figure Shopping with Sean and Ena<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohIOfbVNVa8GjTPNBSuRLqVRX9P-tVbMHr2S0jIUjQhYnYN3UHAjeoqpjQw2zDnyId1YRwMhCZdUWxQJTLzOAManDxK4oG0kcCSWksVQnH1kiYYAzofTwOm3Xb_3rC3B_YC8A8E7S-Z4/s1600/P1060816.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohIOfbVNVa8GjTPNBSuRLqVRX9P-tVbMHr2S0jIUjQhYnYN3UHAjeoqpjQw2zDnyId1YRwMhCZdUWxQJTLzOAManDxK4oG0kcCSWksVQnH1kiYYAzofTwOm3Xb_3rC3B_YC8A8E7S-Z4/s400/P1060816.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604513576138333506" border="0" /></a>Ena and I were in town yesterday, it was a really great warm day with sunny skies. We biked into town and then parked to just walk around a bit. We don't do that often enough, when you are on a bike the city just whizzes past. Not as fast as if you are in a car, but still pretty fast. It is nice to wander around on foot at a slow pace sometimes.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi671UZXhcj2DuijotSYE50M_LEy2P-4zmrmL3g-I6Ud8wr8QaoLqvwrw9ao6wzNQRMBlyZ-YanIvT_ktSHsxm0vMxhqeTFaHLJobw68iXrjTGXtodqOUYoooiSsoMXo6LXf3cffgeYtuo/s1600/P1060817.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi671UZXhcj2DuijotSYE50M_LEy2P-4zmrmL3g-I6Ud8wr8QaoLqvwrw9ao6wzNQRMBlyZ-YanIvT_ktSHsxm0vMxhqeTFaHLJobw68iXrjTGXtodqOUYoooiSsoMXo6LXf3cffgeYtuo/s400/P1060817.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604513585771288274" border="0" /></a>We ended up at Canal City. This could very well be the only mall in the world that I will admit to liking. It is outdoor and an interesting place for a stroll. A lot of people hate it for the tacky pastel colors they did it in. Personally I think there is a time and place for tacky pastel colors and somehow Canal City manages to squeeze into that perfectly.<br /><br />One of the things I like about the place is that if you go on a weekend they will probably have some sort of free entertainment going on in the amphitheatre. Yesterday they had some acrobats putting on a show, which we spent about half an hour watching:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMx8GJRf2Rbkfn1g1X9KHIh-VGtUdb9ynQTjABIDV_C1DX2r_70K0Mw9WsnkHPnaFbNFRDqY0uudaHDODlEkR8_RcIs-mKi36sy4irqtPgwOYugVjfXIJBVKszihHvI5SyXfCoy_PgGk/s1600/P1060824.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMx8GJRf2Rbkfn1g1X9KHIh-VGtUdb9ynQTjABIDV_C1DX2r_70K0Mw9WsnkHPnaFbNFRDqY0uudaHDODlEkR8_RcIs-mKi36sy4irqtPgwOYugVjfXIJBVKszihHvI5SyXfCoy_PgGk/s400/P1060824.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604513590632352258" border="0" /></a>We had lunch there and then wandered around downtown a bit, strolling through Tenjin. We came to my favorite store in all of the world, Mandarake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3C4mAQkLbWcbIdrn6m9WCCuPIaztl4A4Uwqkt0_7NfkmQGdB5XvhEbpnJ8PngrfDcDJV0saTeudI_ltpHQ2jDrgyOoV2EehTu4yV4FHP0A9MGsum8P6oVwkxaZoB2uLX1wJf2Re7mo4/s1600/P1060549.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3C4mAQkLbWcbIdrn6m9WCCuPIaztl4A4Uwqkt0_7NfkmQGdB5XvhEbpnJ8PngrfDcDJV0saTeudI_ltpHQ2jDrgyOoV2EehTu4yV4FHP0A9MGsum8P6oVwkxaZoB2uLX1wJf2Re7mo4/s400/P1060549.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604516949977032306" border="0" /></a>Mandarake is kind of a nerd paradise. Its a big store that sells comics, video games, toys and other nerd-related paraphernalia. They just moved to this new location last month. Most of the stuff is of no interest to me, but what I really like (mostly just to look at) is the old toys that they have. They remind me a lot of stuff I had when I was a kid, most of which is now considered "vintage" and most of which I threw out or sold back in the late 80s.<br /><br />Since Ena got a dog she's been letting me make some guilt-free purchases of the sort of useless stuff that pleases me to no end just to have. So I convinced her to let me pop in for a look for any such items that might catch my eye.<br /><br />As we were wandering the aisles I spotted this in a glass case:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rjrWxEAjEu3TlVlx3EK9emKykDROFinRdK8oXdEivUZxEN75hTZSgqDXem0Smz_yI-D15WCFdbQcoCrG_XD1OUhVDZ6QlFrNT2qRUbi8QxN1Fo2lp8G6w28NpOS6bO47yiBAWdiwUI4/s1600/P1060831.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rjrWxEAjEu3TlVlx3EK9emKykDROFinRdK8oXdEivUZxEN75hTZSgqDXem0Smz_yI-D15WCFdbQcoCrG_XD1OUhVDZ6QlFrNT2qRUbi8QxN1Fo2lp8G6w28NpOS6bO47yiBAWdiwUI4/s400/P1060831.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604517914889833474" border="0" /></a>I then suffered an event that medical researchers call "Nerd Breakdown" right there in the store. My conversation with Ena went something like:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> "Oh my god! Empire Strikes Back!! Look Ena! Its an Empire Strikes Back action figure! Oh my god oh my god oh my god! Yes! This is awesome! Look, Ena! Look!"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ena:</span> "Uh-huh."<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeK30bEpgv5cBon-VxMK4IRjcDFE3xfjkkHaE-cHzQ8MekqH0D3YrjaTNRECiOv02X7ZryMFHZ1T2N0RfMHmN1-L1VykZ1whM_MBZrikiQ91ORAlBLFAnWrfWlPFgsTL0f84Ucaaa6c0/s1600/P1060839.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 397px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeK30bEpgv5cBon-VxMK4IRjcDFE3xfjkkHaE-cHzQ8MekqH0D3YrjaTNRECiOv02X7ZryMFHZ1T2N0RfMHmN1-L1VykZ1whM_MBZrikiQ91ORAlBLFAnWrfWlPFgsTL0f84Ucaaa6c0/s400/P1060839.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604514468893060690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> "Yay! I want it I want it I want it! Gimme gimme! Ooooooh look! It says "Revenge of the Jedi" on it! Oh my god! That is like, what the original title for Return of the Jedi was going to be but then they changed it cuz they, like, thought the word Revenge wasn't appropriate for the Jedi. Anyway, long story, not important. Oh my god oh my god, look at it, Ena, look!"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ena: </span>(flashing embarrassed smile at passersby) "Mmmmh, yeah."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> "OK! Yay! I want it I want it I want it I want it. Yes. YES!"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ena:</span> (looking at watch) "Fine."<br /><br />This went on for a few minutes until I calmed down and came out of it.<br /><br />I think the world of North American males born in the early to mid 70s can generally be divided into two broad categories. Those who still have their childhood Star Wars action figures and those who lost them decades ago. I'm pretty sure that covers everybody as I've never met a guy my age who didn't have Star Wars action figures as a kid. I fall into the latter category.<br /><br />For us, life since the 80s has largely been spent reminiscing about our lost childhood possessions and thinking about how awesome it would be to have them again. Its something the kids who still have their childhood Star Wars action figures just can't understand because they've never been there.<br /><br />I think this explains my nerd breakdown at Mandarake. And the fact that this thing really is cool. I had him when I was a kid. He is a robot bounty hunter who appears briefly in the Empire Strikes Back for about 2 seconds in the background and has no spoken lines. Due to the peculiar logic of the collective Star Wars nerd mind, this means that he is deserving of about 745 different toys, comics, video games, full length novels and an Off-Broadway production devoted just to him.<br /><br />I like the back of the box. It has a picture of the other Star Wars action figures out there:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzHCiQx9AkYfNRCVxp25VCTj95nGB3HRdtdA2nNY1i0lUZY2XisMPFIuENcatKgMCa5sFKUD3MbILflsM0PpYjR3q8vQYPuq28W58wMFG9MVUrXJyE9dlNvWvEXIrjorzUrXhe0FyG_k/s1600/P1060834.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzHCiQx9AkYfNRCVxp25VCTj95nGB3HRdtdA2nNY1i0lUZY2XisMPFIuENcatKgMCa5sFKUD3MbILflsM0PpYjR3q8vQYPuq28W58wMFG9MVUrXJyE9dlNvWvEXIrjorzUrXhe0FyG_k/s400/P1060834.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604513599325056578" border="0" /></a>I remember looking at this exact same picture about 28 or 29 years ago and picking out the ones I wanted (I consistently concluded that I wanted all of them). Somebody had cut out the proof of purchase on this one, which you could send in 6 of to get an Admiral Ackbhar figure. I remember doing this as a kid with my Dad too. We accumulated enough of them to order three figures in total (4-Lom, the Emperor and Niem Numbh - I can't remember my own phone number but somehow my brain has seen fit to store this useless fact for almost 3 decades).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2qj8VvZimct6baQhhcNut4-r3kln1kKHqqy8wUWD39g-k16QQR-xc1mCbS7opQMgPPAGfrZ6S_yJ9Gq-79pB0K_F5RGx6r6oDS4OB-j2-trh2A0xWIpIQjCMLCzJnd0tPADgFsAb-jA/s1600/P1060833.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2qj8VvZimct6baQhhcNut4-r3kln1kKHqqy8wUWD39g-k16QQR-xc1mCbS7opQMgPPAGfrZ6S_yJ9Gq-79pB0K_F5RGx6r6oDS4OB-j2-trh2A0xWIpIQjCMLCzJnd0tPADgFsAb-jA/s400/P1060833.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604513593407626242" border="0" /></a>I'm not sure why this thing still exists in its box. It really should have been played with by someone back in the day rather than just sitting there for all these years.<br /><br />Anyway, I went a bit overboard and bought more than just the one:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQEP1dA3zTAbUa74qsbjgZmHJYegQ7og-35nTM-IGGF1D65bSR_S_g4KCEq_Tuwo0rK3VOrkeJtScdzS8kdiXCGWqLELwwow6-4BjiTpPNhtnCT7Bn3UwYbjiIWakrNGhRYkLBxz5lis/s1600/P1060835.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQEP1dA3zTAbUa74qsbjgZmHJYegQ7og-35nTM-IGGF1D65bSR_S_g4KCEq_Tuwo0rK3VOrkeJtScdzS8kdiXCGWqLELwwow6-4BjiTpPNhtnCT7Bn3UwYbjiIWakrNGhRYkLBxz5lis/s400/P1060835.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604514462491251378" border="0" /></a>I may be developing a problem here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-12008500163209190162011-05-07T19:04:00.000-07:002011-05-07T19:11:07.220-07:00Kashii Kaikan's Mos Burger Closed!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV95Z8ySR3lXs6Y6X13LYL7ldtKmd7usBF2Mi-8P2DoRUqTmgcja0ckbO75hkN-wcf8tD88T2asaSeC3SjS4_FXHExpwFDSRmdSXmxqC5VppaAsdHEu2Jeh3UE7btycSxlTVfYJNrG5lU/s1600/P1060791.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV95Z8ySR3lXs6Y6X13LYL7ldtKmd7usBF2Mi-8P2DoRUqTmgcja0ckbO75hkN-wcf8tD88T2asaSeC3SjS4_FXHExpwFDSRmdSXmxqC5VppaAsdHEu2Jeh3UE7btycSxlTVfYJNrG5lU/s400/P1060791.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604160724222172482" border="0" /></a>It is not often that I will admit to feeling bad about the closure of a fast food outlet, but I kind of do about this one.<br /><br />There used to be a Mos Burger in the first floor of the above building. It is right next to the Kaikan where we lived for our first year in Fukuoka. We used to go there a lot for lunch or dinner, usually on our way to or back from a cycling trip in Eastern Fukuoka. <br /><br />Mos Burger is by no means the best fast food franchise out there. But I liked this one. Across the street from the building is the Kashihama beach and Island City beyond that. The windows had a great view of this and it was a nice place to just sit. <br /><br />Anyway, probably most people who have lived in the Kaikan remember this place as it was the closest source of fast food. I'm sorry to say it is no more!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-81318910358137969132011-05-02T03:34:00.000-07:002011-05-02T03:39:12.557-07:00Doogle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOItMr_4Lt9zJAA7kz55bWPsnF-EC-7G6RLyaohuNj2JJAf8YcBtss9sECPzdnT0SEGQuBTcyO2E4aBCrmZOb5efEogVuvJgmqVHvG36r2ETtJZF9_ODx553nROhsQmK9orlrev5nv15E/s1600/P1060666cc.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOItMr_4Lt9zJAA7kz55bWPsnF-EC-7G6RLyaohuNj2JJAf8YcBtss9sECPzdnT0SEGQuBTcyO2E4aBCrmZOb5efEogVuvJgmqVHvG36r2ETtJZF9_ODx553nROhsQmK9orlrev5nv15E/s400/P1060666cc.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602065618146829202" border="0" /></a>His name is Doogle and he is a very naughty boy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-16886413885532730012011-04-30T00:14:00.000-07:002011-04-30T00:24:07.909-07:00We are With Dog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8kwWAOysPiYbffHDqZV-SVh7S8yoAm2hwnAsZI5TIFJCw5eW8T1jjUnyjW9m3knS5P_v46nTJPnY3sE_DC8WsEWNZS4eThm6UmrYrunBMDQSm-wKc3KsWa8leVlWrszo49dCdDeo_ls/s1600/P1060616.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8kwWAOysPiYbffHDqZV-SVh7S8yoAm2hwnAsZI5TIFJCw5eW8T1jjUnyjW9m3knS5P_v46nTJPnY3sE_DC8WsEWNZS4eThm6UmrYrunBMDQSm-wKc3KsWa8leVlWrszo49dCdDeo_ls/s400/P1060616.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601272533644036610" border="0" /></a>This thing is in my living room now. He showed up today. Looks like we'll be keeping him.<br /><br />He likes feet.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q-8grKvH59pDIHMyEULYR56RXpnBwyKOwjd9-tzODVbI-0I6daOyNntrGz2dO1ewjx1sEVDsdukorEsUTUQgJ1iYsNlqs_hcP7kjD40AiUy7pm1ZfgJXbd_51CmM2xXS8yh6_2e1pNo/s1600/P1060618.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q-8grKvH59pDIHMyEULYR56RXpnBwyKOwjd9-tzODVbI-0I6daOyNntrGz2dO1ewjx1sEVDsdukorEsUTUQgJ1iYsNlqs_hcP7kjD40AiUy7pm1ZfgJXbd_51CmM2xXS8yh6_2e1pNo/s400/P1060618.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601272548224063730" border="0" /></a>Otherwise we know very little about him.<br /><br />OK, we know a bit about him. He is a toy poodle. An impulse purchase made from a breeder online. <br /><br />I kid. Ena has had a lifetime dream to own a dog of her own and now it has come true.<br /><br />I'm a lot more happy with him than this picture lets on:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiye1gtAwDwmLfR89f8iybw6A_7k2_78RJSv86d4DRDsgWURiDnjf3FKwUjR0SHNm2MnIW4DgQDe4ADw5GVP-U1pWr4SVESDLxFZWcv7NlHj9Hz9DTA2B6MZXQkrYP6qHyBSwbDh52WWts/s1600/P1060617.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiye1gtAwDwmLfR89f8iybw6A_7k2_78RJSv86d4DRDsgWURiDnjf3FKwUjR0SHNm2MnIW4DgQDe4ADw5GVP-U1pWr4SVESDLxFZWcv7NlHj9Hz9DTA2B6MZXQkrYP6qHyBSwbDh52WWts/s400/P1060617.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601272543244579522" border="0" /></a>Haven't decided on a name yet. It'll be something cute, probably.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-81597335524328023212011-04-25T16:39:00.000-07:002013-03-09T04:04:31.122-08:00The Death of Japan's Largest Ferris Wheel: The Rise and Fall of Sky Dream Fukuoka<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fT8QqkY0y2NyKJ85hyf6Pgx7i9iwLOtSKFT6E29AKJT5UzqBvjFdEvpTzA7J9N1U6E0SXY765OELhWmj0Nm0iVLp3j2zWbgkbfHsxQSWmrsPdtptRjkkBKNKB9bIyrhYeRPzfJUkBSY/s1600/P1060380.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673219297993666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fT8QqkY0y2NyKJ85hyf6Pgx7i9iwLOtSKFT6E29AKJT5UzqBvjFdEvpTzA7J9N1U6E0SXY765OELhWmj0Nm0iVLp3j2zWbgkbfHsxQSWmrsPdtptRjkkBKNKB9bIyrhYeRPzfJUkBSY/s400/P1060380.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a>A major event in Fukuoka history has been sadly, slowly and extremely quietly unfolding on the western fringes of the city. It is a sad little story that doesn't seem to have entered the English speaking part of the internet yet, so I thought I'd let this blog post fill in the gap. My homage to the short and tragic life of Sky Dream Fukuoka.<br />
<br />
Sky Dream Fukuoka opened in 2001 to much fanfare. Well, at least I assume there was a lot of fanfare, I wasn't actually there. At 120 metres it was the largest Ferris wheel in all of Japan. That is saying something, as Japan is a country dotted with mammoth Ferris wheels, many of which at one point or another in their history could claim to be the largest in the world.<br />
<br />
The gondolas were air conditioned and moved so slowly that it took 20 minutes to complete a single revolution. As a 2007 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/business/28wheels.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=cd1fdf1b24e4056e&ex=1343275200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1185594411-Vvn4gkKPE%20uZBI6/xt4VPQ">New York Times article</a> noted:<br />
<br />
"The 394-foot Sky Dream Fukuoka in Japan even advertises this lazy pace as a selling point — it helps ensure “maximum kissing time.”<br />
<br />
It was built in an odd location, at the then recently opened Marinoa City Fukuoka, a shopping mall in the western suburbs of Fukuoka. I say "odd" because this location put it right next to the SkyWheel Ferris wheel, which at 58.3 metres was a fairly sizable one in its own right.<br />
<br />
This created one of Fukuoka's more interesting sights, two massive Ferris wheels built right next to each other. This is what they looked like from the ferry to Nokonoshima:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqshNdMvexlkWCq3iUc5oUdLKVFYHx2FT7VkHnXhqtLxxcFAaQJfq0VO4EFwQJ48NA3u5ExNgKV05POKmZKm2v6u1b0DctFtUcii1j2D-qu5f6JWdMvh5Fu5eT0O0sGUy1YRmD3p2nnE/s1600/P1010020.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599672072059749922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqshNdMvexlkWCq3iUc5oUdLKVFYHx2FT7VkHnXhqtLxxcFAaQJfq0VO4EFwQJ48NA3u5ExNgKV05POKmZKm2v6u1b0DctFtUcii1j2D-qu5f6JWdMvh5Fu5eT0O0sGUy1YRmD3p2nnE/s400/P1010020.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a>They could be seen from miles away and, lit up at night, dominated the city's western skyline. As the <a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Dream_Fukuoka">Japanese Wikipedia entry</a> notes, this unusual sight became one of the city's more prominent landmarks and they became known as Fukuoka's "twin Ferris wheels."<br />
<br />
It goes without saying, of course, that while it makes for an interesting sight, putting two massive Ferris wheels right next to each other like this is perhaps not an economically sound idea. Nor is placing it way out in the suburbs at a mall with no rail access. Despite this, passenger numbers were enough for it to be operated in the black.<br />
<br />
The end, however, came swiftly two years ago. The story in the news as I remember it is that the wheel needed some to have some very expensive maintenance work performed in order to keep it in operation. Its owners, the Evergreen Group, decided that the cost of these and a projected decline in passenger numbers would make the wheel economically un-viable and decided to permanently close it instead. On September 26, 2009 Sky Dream Fukuoka carried its last passengers, less than 8 years after it had carried its first.<br />
<br />
One of the things I regret in life is that I passed up the chance to take a ride on this wheel. Ena and I made our first visit to Marinoa in August of 2009. We wanted to take a ride on the thing just to say we had ridden the biggest (we've been on other big wheels in Yokohama and Kobe before), but were a bit pressed for time that day (it was actually our anniversary) and decided that we would just do it the next time we visited. We had no idea that a month later the thing would be permanently shuttered.<br />
<br />
This is a picture I took on that day:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM73MTUxJ-naBHBbqa0YvBCSvusvTNMCTcNPHMSnDKM5qmGlrL_Cd6oUhnS79Ep4P6YImHNn-N9QvDeK8x4IEgK6p4tAoTjNwx4ely57IztajXWkg2poQ_CYipUj1lSpoUvAulzyVQ7A/s1600/IMGP4158.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599672064564741298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM73MTUxJ-naBHBbqa0YvBCSvusvTNMCTcNPHMSnDKM5qmGlrL_Cd6oUhnS79Ep4P6YImHNn-N9QvDeK8x4IEgK6p4tAoTjNwx4ely57IztajXWkg2poQ_CYipUj1lSpoUvAulzyVQ7A/s400/IMGP4158.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>This is a picture I took yesterday from roughly the same spot:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoDBxFAVYK6nLCLmUGNatY9fQvrYD0N9-Xi9SbXOVTN1Mfq2YjpZ6f2syB1eFb2ZmFf0HtsvtcShcxTiOnA3MdC8r69M-LgD8crYVLt-1GGrWdceINuR3ujCyg4j6R4d6Ol41L0ve5tU/s1600/P1060368.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673201394938306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoDBxFAVYK6nLCLmUGNatY9fQvrYD0N9-Xi9SbXOVTN1Mfq2YjpZ6f2syB1eFb2ZmFf0HtsvtcShcxTiOnA3MdC8r69M-LgD8crYVLt-1GGrWdceINuR3ujCyg4j6R4d6Ol41L0ve5tU/s400/P1060368.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The thing sat silently for at least a year after its closure, but last summer work commenced on dismantling it and by now it looks close to half finished. It has been sold to a Taiwanese investor and, once they have re-constructed it there, that country will have a Ferris wheel larger than any in all of Japan (and the 9th largest in the world).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvSDexE3kM6dmRS1gLUA91nwlPr77Bc9I1G-nlhY62imX-CJ7o-nmdfknJ3zqqensuPTV7rWao8as4wOJjcoPZ-bRqpTYV3yZjswWnr8mhVwb9Y9en322HZx8iYtO3weKSYp2l0qS0wc/s1600/P1060379.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673202871826370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvSDexE3kM6dmRS1gLUA91nwlPr77Bc9I1G-nlhY62imX-CJ7o-nmdfknJ3zqqensuPTV7rWao8as4wOJjcoPZ-bRqpTYV3yZjswWnr8mhVwb9Y9en322HZx8iYtO3weKSYp2l0qS0wc/s400/P1060379.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a>Its kind of a sad story. This thing was only 8 years old when it closed - that is barely more than half the life expectancy of a chihuahua. Its entire existence from birth to death fit neatly within the confines of the fledgling 21st century, which must be a first for a structure of this magnitude.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fce7ChjeIiZWboYFreNSpCHBWCyB8MHSW4eVL1kKEcVvhOWBAocb70_PVLQe5KWgeBzdD4sAOu52nl8jr0OeLLy6lNzyC5B49h8Q0UI6veXFXkaidfSDst49k3U8riCOaUooKN5Tv8g/s1600/P1060383.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673222784809666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fce7ChjeIiZWboYFreNSpCHBWCyB8MHSW4eVL1kKEcVvhOWBAocb70_PVLQe5KWgeBzdD4sAOu52nl8jr0OeLLy6lNzyC5B49h8Q0UI6veXFXkaidfSDst49k3U8riCOaUooKN5Tv8g/s400/P1060383.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Workers were busy at work taking the thing down piece by piece as we visited. It is a massive operation, it looks just as difficult as it must have been to build it in the first place.<br />
<br />
Nearby its smaller twin rotates in somber silence, mourning the loss of its big brother:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MAKPxsapaGrSByKyVzvqTjs6whB5Gr01lFOSeP8yXbjxz60ZfixqWVYuDszX4p-nFIAhio33ROI0TKi2qjiJXsoa5h9WRe9XO-W0YsxgHxE0LfVH-SQ83h_OK-VV8JzO4HbE4oOg6yU/s1600/P1060406.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673850148067986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MAKPxsapaGrSByKyVzvqTjs6whB5Gr01lFOSeP8yXbjxz60ZfixqWVYuDszX4p-nFIAhio33ROI0TKi2qjiJXsoa5h9WRe9XO-W0YsxgHxE0LfVH-SQ83h_OK-VV8JzO4HbE4oOg6yU/s400/P1060406.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 286px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Ena and I had ice cream under the little one (literally):<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsF-ImshozY3m3QXQr8L-V_iJ8OsN8bCxZ5bEHKtMhMv-xgxDvuS9mXo-KYfdgDCfwBBJMrQTpo8oJm8FK7DjgJmKbyexgYEqw0Um2n8_iRAcCAwiJ-Y2e5W1oKm-YbKcg8eIekh2pkY/s1600/P1060394.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599673852462980834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsF-ImshozY3m3QXQr8L-V_iJ8OsN8bCxZ5bEHKtMhMv-xgxDvuS9mXo-KYfdgDCfwBBJMrQTpo8oJm8FK7DjgJmKbyexgYEqw0Um2n8_iRAcCAwiJ-Y2e5W1oKm-YbKcg8eIekh2pkY/s400/P1060394.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>We had to wonder if this one's days aren't numbered also. In the 15 minutes we were there not a single customer appeared. One by one the lonely little gondolas arced skyward, empty. It was a Monday though and the mall wasn't too busy, perhaps on the weekend it'll get more business. We thought of going up, but it seemed like it would have been a sorry substitute for the big one we sorely wished we had ridden when we had the chance. And the 500 yen price for what looked like a 3 minute or so ride seemed a bit steep.<br />
<br />
Anyway, that is the abbreviated story of Sky Dream Fukuoka. Its fall from grace is no better exemplified than this photo from Fukuoka's official tourist website which has completely airbrushed it out of existence:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOX-tR0EI7LyMzC7X_fA2R5MJTwQD4TNMNCvNZ2pl7FKbRGaxhmYKRiVWc1bdWOKd5OndsTx-klaykD_2nHj2IHKDukLg5dctix_1lXgTrDGCK2KWVvSdcC3840a7tXzEP8_NFBlqGlr4/s1600/special_contents4bf1ed295f204.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599676763395628450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOX-tR0EI7LyMzC7X_fA2R5MJTwQD4TNMNCvNZ2pl7FKbRGaxhmYKRiVWc1bdWOKd5OndsTx-klaykD_2nHj2IHKDukLg5dctix_1lXgTrDGCK2KWVvSdcC3840a7tXzEP8_NFBlqGlr4/s400/special_contents4bf1ed295f204.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 262px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Like Trotsky, it was never there. Just a figment of our imaginations.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Postscript July 8, 2011</span><br />
<br />
Yesterday I turned on the 9 o'clock NHK national news and their lead story was about this very Ferris wheel. The remainder of it collapsed suddenly while the disassembly work was underway. 2 cranes went down with it, and together they flattened a number of cars and did some damage to the building.<br />
<br />
Pictures of the damage and story (in Japanese) are available <a href="http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0707/SEB201107070057.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2010/08/elegant-decay-of-dying-campus.html">- Kyudai Hakozaki: The Elegant Decay of a Dying Campus</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2010/09/fukuoka-airport-and-shime-coal-mine-odd.html">- Fukuoka Airport and Shime Coal Mine</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2010/09/urban-ghost-town-bewitching-ugliness-of.html">- Urban Ghost Town: The Bewitching Ugliness of Chiyomachi Nichome</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2010/09/decline-of-shotengai-destruction-of.html">- Shoutengai and Kashii: The Bulldozer Comes to Higashi Ku</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-36529279571764996172011-04-23T00:33:00.000-07:002011-04-23T01:04:03.754-07:002011 Calbee Yakyuu Chips: Japanese Baseball Card Season Has Begun<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QFBfmkBKzTGYbIZo238KUby4JUfoB6T-_5ZTxvsIT7s1d9Q1LyKKgrtittHRI23GuEVlOajWTEmudo5Zg1LmKnkiVYzGZtCxJs9N8BnfAIfhB8aB3zg6Djsojg24XwqWH_4SswMfNvE/s1600/P1060196.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 384px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QFBfmkBKzTGYbIZo238KUby4JUfoB6T-_5ZTxvsIT7s1d9Q1LyKKgrtittHRI23GuEVlOajWTEmudo5Zg1LmKnkiVYzGZtCxJs9N8BnfAIfhB8aB3zg6Djsojg24XwqWH_4SswMfNvE/s400/P1060196.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598679361293399138" border="0" /></a>The Japanese baseball season started a couple of weeks late this year due to the tsunami. The Rakuten Eagles play in Sendai and their stadium was severely damaged so they've had to juggle the schedules around quite a bit to enable Rakuten to play on the road while repairs are made.<br /><br />Anyway, with another baseball season comes another futile attempt by me to collect a set of baseball cards one bag of Calbee chips at a time. Its an annual rite of passage that I look forward to every spring.<br /><br />The 2011 Calbee baseball card chips look exactly the same as the 2010 baseball card chips, and every bag of baseball card chips they've made since I bought my first one 11 years ago.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZe8anz49STO-GsWvDjVmIC6YKy9uZ3WxwPaRHF4UVmz5pMah4o61aq_wIyEhJTJE6EgbZIK0Niab6Qkia1gT5W6_DgwXlGJir97o4hiYOQDq3c9lTaD7sRVhWlpY12PupIVG5IMZDuU/s1600/P1060197.JPG.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZe8anz49STO-GsWvDjVmIC6YKy9uZ3WxwPaRHF4UVmz5pMah4o61aq_wIyEhJTJE6EgbZIK0Niab6Qkia1gT5W6_DgwXlGJir97o4hiYOQDq3c9lTaD7sRVhWlpY12PupIVG5IMZDuU/s400/P1060197.JPG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598679370571381090" border="0" /></a>Due to my general fear of change I view this as a good thing.<br /><br />These are the two cards I got in my first bag:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwBWnbQrNHSdwuwhyphenhyphenCMk_O5sxvSRCmkI0l1kwmFx3Sta4Z6frzXRkrt8HyNU-l-L7pY5adhFvLEo0_HvCO0kKxId8nDHOSu7Gav24thyphenhyphengpbJzMmwIaTXcC5kVPUGTtAz25Nc0pCmbn5Q/s1600/P1060198.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 350px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwBWnbQrNHSdwuwhyphenhyphenCMk_O5sxvSRCmkI0l1kwmFx3Sta4Z6frzXRkrt8HyNU-l-L7pY5adhFvLEo0_HvCO0kKxId8nDHOSu7Gav24thyphenhyphengpbJzMmwIaTXcC5kVPUGTtAz25Nc0pCmbn5Q/s400/P1060198.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598679373335952514" border="0" /></a>Well, the bags and cards look the same, but when I first started collecting these things they only put one card in the bag. They started putting 2 in a couple years ago. This development didn't help me get any closer to collecting a whole set. In fact, it just made me buy less of them as they jacked the price per bag all the way up to 88 yen.<br /><br />Anyway, one thing I will admit to wishing they would change is the flavor of the chips. You have one selection: plain.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JRlM0qSBuYohl4ca7v5WEZtuIobkgEgV8P2mGICoIM39z5guoo0fKJOM0A8JdatGnumkrRUZk2-W98hNSiOZGTVhit3Sj1x1nEV__tU8SKoQpRbIoCf1G86XEMAqKlUbLjZ5g2LqLis/s1600/P1060203.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JRlM0qSBuYohl4ca7v5WEZtuIobkgEgV8P2mGICoIM39z5guoo0fKJOM0A8JdatGnumkrRUZk2-W98hNSiOZGTVhit3Sj1x1nEV__tU8SKoQpRbIoCf1G86XEMAqKlUbLjZ5g2LqLis/s400/P1060203.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598684279808417666" border="0" /></a>That is it. You would need to eat several hundred bags of plain chips over the course of a single baseball season to have a realistic shot at collecting the whole set. Hence my failure to ever come close to accomplishing that goal. They are fine every once in a while but its still April and I'm tired of the things already. Sour cream and onion would be nice every once in a while.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-16977464090767820932011-04-20T18:00:00.000-07:002011-12-26T18:06:59.583-08:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 14 - The Philosopher's Path, Nanzenji and Goodbye!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzCBzLhrTJQp2UjgSqMyiO-FtPRfvHVnnS-BHVLW7-NWDCqxcCVNZFgyZ2BJKvk4BF03W2pDazg0qFacy3q87REr7pRWQt1D3dRTvWNf7HWH1UkP8biKdvfiQFJRnLsEe1Rk4udT1Lr8/s1600/Kyoto+Nanzenji+Trip+Hanami.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzCBzLhrTJQp2UjgSqMyiO-FtPRfvHVnnS-BHVLW7-NWDCqxcCVNZFgyZ2BJKvk4BF03W2pDazg0qFacy3q87REr7pRWQt1D3dRTvWNf7HWH1UkP8biKdvfiQFJRnLsEe1Rk4udT1Lr8/s400/Kyoto+Nanzenji+Trip+Hanami.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690623609859887858" border="0" /></a>On the afternoon of our last day in Kyoto we headed over to the Philosopher's Path ("Tetsugaku no Michi") which leads to the Nanzenji temple. This is literally just a cherry tree-lined path that winds its way along a canal (more of a ditch) for a couple kilometres.<br /><br />We have some pleasant, sentimental memories of walking along this path together which is why we went out of our way to go see it again. Despite the fact that it figures into most of the Kyoto travel guides, I don't really understand why it is considered an attraction at all. Basically its just a decent path with some nice cherry trees but that is it. Its the type of thing that most cities have somewhere. The surrounding neighborhoods aren't particularly attractive and a fair amount of ugly stuff (parking lots, concrete apartment blocks, etc) make up the "borrowed scenery" as you walk along.<br /><br />That said, we had a really nice walk, the cherry blossoms were looking good:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTUok3gBaaPwD1eMTqEaa4rggKNbAzsUFENmU87UxAZfKTr7RV92tcsYOB9DgFXmsz_nOcXlFrs4u2xGTz29pZzaonCBznBFcE-KfBd-h8O6NXpv7lCV3HwNvUP_CLKPAg8y3LJTudXA/s1600/P1060001.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTUok3gBaaPwD1eMTqEaa4rggKNbAzsUFENmU87UxAZfKTr7RV92tcsYOB9DgFXmsz_nOcXlFrs4u2xGTz29pZzaonCBznBFcE-KfBd-h8O6NXpv7lCV3HwNvUP_CLKPAg8y3LJTudXA/s400/P1060001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597837223119222386" border="0" /></a>We had some "sakura" ice cream sold from a vendor with an ice chest strapped to the back of her bicycle, which I thought was a pretty cool way to run a business:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFC23xPMMm_DZ1SLegOmL7ecqQKJ0Z-dc7sXvf5ZA9EyWD2b8tjOGcIdxj70tPX2CH1XWDENx2a-VNEMcgqD14GLUgJW2Tskac5eNpDcdaJRAOriJGTzra-mfaUs_9QtTzEBbwuiHNpQ/s1600/P1060008.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFC23xPMMm_DZ1SLegOmL7ecqQKJ0Z-dc7sXvf5ZA9EyWD2b8tjOGcIdxj70tPX2CH1XWDENx2a-VNEMcgqD14GLUgJW2Tskac5eNpDcdaJRAOriJGTzra-mfaUs_9QtTzEBbwuiHNpQ/s400/P1060008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597837230834061314" border="0" /></a>All in all it was a pleasant walk. If you are in the area, a walk down the Philosopher's path is a great way of getting from Ginkakuji to the vicinity of Nanzenji. If you aren't in the area, I wouldn't really recommend going out of your way to see it though!<br /><br />After the Philosopher's path we headed over to Nanzenji, the final Kyoto sight that we would visit on our trip.<br /><br />Nanzenji is one of my favorite temples in Kyoto. It has really lovely grounds with attractive gardens and temple architecture, most of which are free to enter, beginning with its impressive gateway:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x7gF6Ox_QzGVp8HAft6YcvJO0NzkqcaEZya_rndCdUdLx2W0gg36bK-w2cSJQuwp7LD3qtuBcjwSPxTJyciIHp7giViCaJBV6dYvpokXSkEgU94FTiw19YcBEdfU-eGHx3sj3v__rng/s1600/P1060025.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x7gF6Ox_QzGVp8HAft6YcvJO0NzkqcaEZya_rndCdUdLx2W0gg36bK-w2cSJQuwp7LD3qtuBcjwSPxTJyciIHp7giViCaJBV6dYvpokXSkEgU94FTiw19YcBEdfU-eGHx3sj3v__rng/s400/P1060025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597838720008498562" border="0" /></a>Ena and I had a seat on the ledge of this gateway and realized that inevitably any trip we ever take to Kyoto at some point involves us sitting on the gateway to Nanzenji, looking at the maple trees. Its a long tradition dating back to my parent's first visit to Japan way back when and continuing up to the present. Its just a nice place to sit. If memory serves the film "Lost in Translation" even has one of those moody, reflective scenes with Scarlett Johansson at the gate to Nanzenji. But we were there first. She is such a poser, that Scarlett Johansson. I don't remember if she was sitting down in that scene or not.<br /><br />Anyway, among the Nanzenji's interesting features are the Meiji era red brick aqueduct that runs through the grounds:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVejGy1LXTHM8zUHWa74z3OdGX3Ft_7joEYlC58NRMU4LaUHQv9YI5pA2MWyZHEOP48anlHRI-cMDEXc7Attp0D5tF2VikA_0oPsgueW1fN1G2Gy4HzMNTJeP_OLkBthMhofJYtVif6I/s1600/P1060059.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVejGy1LXTHM8zUHWa74z3OdGX3Ft_7joEYlC58NRMU4LaUHQv9YI5pA2MWyZHEOP48anlHRI-cMDEXc7Attp0D5tF2VikA_0oPsgueW1fN1G2Gy4HzMNTJeP_OLkBthMhofJYtVif6I/s400/P1060059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597838737307512322" border="0" /></a>This time, for the first time, we decided to actually enter the paid-entry part of the temple. There are actually 3 different areas that you have to pay 3 different entrance fees for, so we only opted for the most expensive one - the Hojo garden.<br /><br />Its a decent garden, with a nice courtyard:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSQxO0kFtSS_bQ15zzBPYrpzilpTOTfMvJ8XUyw5OxOwwPFR4NrLT03i3QnFbHjyw8XwJPLtmkzRCss-V5jJ9ghhTfiYZGue1y-SPexw8B8EXLzG8gltUy0-49kDtVPlQXO8xJ4HX0-k/s1600/P1060038.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSQxO0kFtSS_bQ15zzBPYrpzilpTOTfMvJ8XUyw5OxOwwPFR4NrLT03i3QnFbHjyw8XwJPLtmkzRCss-V5jJ9ghhTfiYZGue1y-SPexw8B8EXLzG8gltUy0-49kDtVPlQXO8xJ4HX0-k/s400/P1060038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597838733663912386" border="0" /></a>I have to say that it was a bit of a letdown though. The free parts of the Nanzenji temple are so impressive that I was probably expecting the paid parts to totally blow me away, which they inevitably failed to do. They were nice though.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnztiW7HGknkSEMZNs3zCixtFNaGFz1qd50EySOK6iBseLRrhqBG6c9xiKBTGhxZpn1XHBoFruSipbs-0P588Dri-D7JjPkBfzksgt3-OZ8fhxLYZ2aP2eN2pRLa7hwsswwXQXsr_oAE/s1600/P1060033.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnztiW7HGknkSEMZNs3zCixtFNaGFz1qd50EySOK6iBseLRrhqBG6c9xiKBTGhxZpn1XHBoFruSipbs-0P588Dri-D7JjPkBfzksgt3-OZ8fhxLYZ2aP2eN2pRLa7hwsswwXQXsr_oAE/s400/P1060033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597838724108417858" border="0" /></a>Visiting the Nanzenji was a bit of a bitter-sweet experience though, as we knew it was the last place we had time to visit and would have to bring our fun-filled trip to an end. I have to say that this was probably the best trip we've ever had. It was one of those trips where even when stuff didn't work out (like our arriving too late to see Hiei zan) we just laughed it off. Nothing could spoil the enjoyment we were having. We were lucky with the weather too as it didn't rain at all, which helped a lot!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EMfAlb3EuSRzqpy8kIr75Z44q9RLOGgHj1Ma9_G82QhUQENcerdBz5yB6a2WO0xx08iOZXrl5uJUocbSfMplhEXVsF6NIUCDaJ-kTAGImuy9WTuzKY6kjy7e__NuBSSLZGFrECXm2P4/s1600/P1060063.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EMfAlb3EuSRzqpy8kIr75Z44q9RLOGgHj1Ma9_G82QhUQENcerdBz5yB6a2WO0xx08iOZXrl5uJUocbSfMplhEXVsF6NIUCDaJ-kTAGImuy9WTuzKY6kjy7e__NuBSSLZGFrECXm2P4/s400/P1060063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597839093706697362" border="0" /></a>So we headed off back through the gates of the Nanzenji, sad in the knowledge that our trip was at an end, but happy in the knowledge that we had been able to have such a nice time in our four days and once again promising each other that we'd visit again someday.<br /><br />The end.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-10-kamogawa-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-11-yasaka-jinja-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 11 - Yasaka Jinja and Gion by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-12-kyoto-gosho-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 12 - Kyoto Gosho and Eikando</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-13-kyoto-by-rental.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 13 - Kyoto by Rental Cycle</span></a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-64044427741486064022011-04-18T17:37:00.000-07:002011-04-20T19:01:21.312-07:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 13 - Kyoto by Rental Cycle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcSbCY-b1-hO24lnknXJC799ni0xidGLItmV9c8y34_EdXNPMdh8HibR7RUP1YghtfRNHsLTkAHd5voyB-0Icsp921IWvoMEBp-1pwxqznzy8qfyVr3DV-1Uy9RDUjZkDUTg15DYyYns/s1600/P1050543.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcSbCY-b1-hO24lnknXJC799ni0xidGLItmV9c8y34_EdXNPMdh8HibR7RUP1YghtfRNHsLTkAHd5voyB-0Icsp921IWvoMEBp-1pwxqznzy8qfyVr3DV-1Uy9RDUjZkDUTg15DYyYns/s400/P1050543.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597091146259790802" border="0" /></a>On 3 of the 4 days we spent in Kyoto, we got around on rental bicycles. For those of you planning a trip to Kyoto, bicycles are a great way to see the city. It is flat, compact and has plenty of cycling paths (like the one on the Kamogawa) and wide sidewalks (on which you can ride bikes in Japan), so it is quite safe and pleasant if the weather holds out.<br /><br />This was our first time to rent cycles on a Kyoto trip and we were kicking ourselves for not having done this before. On previous trips we had relied on the Kyoto city buses and subways to get around. Bicycles are just way better - you aren't bound by the transport schedule, you don't have to fish around for exact change, you don't have to deal with the inevitable crowds in the buses, etc etc. The only day we didn't use rental cycles was when we visited Ohara, which is located in the mountains north of the city and would have made for a difficult (though by no means impossible) bike ride.<br /><br />We got our bikes at a place called <a href="http://www.kyoto-option.com/">レンタサイクル京都ecoトリップ</a> ("Rental Cycle Kyoto Eco Trip") and I have no hesitation in recommending them to Kyoto visitors. Their website is in Japanese only, but they are really easy to find. From Kyoto Station, just go out the south exit. Look for the pachinko parlor directly across the street (as with most Pachinko parlors, its hard to miss). The Rental cycle place is directly behind that Pachinko parlor. 1 minute's walk from the station and you are there.<br /><br />They have regular "mama chari" (granny bikes) for 700 yen per day, or a bike with gears for 1,000 yen per day. We went with the 1,000 option and they were great:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZabm-KUg_-OSOu-rLvMjPs6MJlz8Lxg-Rd2j5-2BqhljyZLCJ84Qek0G9xEt1HXu2EQaQtHA62cP76G5J89_Aewl1DT6IQ8Jqc5H1dyMKhf2ACbqZILcZYr6SpfPvEPW4Gd8TgEH9kD0/s1600/P1050948.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZabm-KUg_-OSOu-rLvMjPs6MJlz8Lxg-Rd2j5-2BqhljyZLCJ84Qek0G9xEt1HXu2EQaQtHA62cP76G5J89_Aewl1DT6IQ8Jqc5H1dyMKhf2ACbqZILcZYr6SpfPvEPW4Gd8TgEH9kD0/s400/P1050948.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597087810725254114" border="0" /></a>The staff are quite friendly. They provide a very useful 24 page Kyoto cycling map with each rental. The map is in Japanese, though the main page has the bigger sites written in English as well.<br /><br />The only problem with cycling in Kyoto is that some of the hot spots are too packed with people for you to be able to bring your bicycles. In particular the Kawaramachi area of downtown is way too packed, so it is best to park on the edge of that area and proceed on foot. The same is true of the area around Kiyomizu temple, which is a zoo. Fortunately there is bicycle parking available.<br /><br />Our Kyoto trip continues in the <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-14-philosophers-path.html">next post</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-10-kamogawa-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-11-yasaka-jinja-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 11 - Yasaka Jinja and Gion by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-12-kyoto-gosho-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 12 - Kyoto Gosho and Eikando</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-14-philosophers-path.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 14 - The Philosopher's Path, Nanzenji and Goodbye</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-6372984923103897662011-04-16T17:00:00.000-07:002011-12-26T18:09:23.374-08:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 12 - Kyoto Gosho and Eikando<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yTEB8zyJyT3Tp_exVsoxDON9xOphx0vcGvMAepU2CnRNokpP615hyphenhyphentx9BmlrfOZr2Nok7a2YL4X0gH5OPd6fszHeP-A-q4Ddcb5FmECfjM3Yw8ijzvC6vu7I18IfnkMzqbjqbzT0N1Y/s1600/Kyoto+Trip+Kyoto+Gosho+Palace.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yTEB8zyJyT3Tp_exVsoxDON9xOphx0vcGvMAepU2CnRNokpP615hyphenhyphentx9BmlrfOZr2Nok7a2YL4X0gH5OPd6fszHeP-A-q4Ddcb5FmECfjM3Yw8ijzvC6vu7I18IfnkMzqbjqbzT0N1Y/s400/Kyoto+Trip+Kyoto+Gosho+Palace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690624405093994258" border="0" /></a>Our last day in Kyoto was sunny and warm. We had until 8PM until our bus would whisk us back to Fukuoka, so once again we set out to explore some of the remaining sites we had not yet hit on rented bicycles.<br /><br />Our travels first took us past Kyoto Gosho, the Emperor's residence in Kyoto. He wasn't in that day, so we just tucked a note under the door saying we had visited and were sorry we had missed him.<br /><br />Anyway, most of the massive grounds are a big, free park that is open to everyone so we pedaled around a bit, which was difficult on the gravel. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaZgk3GLqbstLYKmV2kfuqkYjzNKukUMsdMrTLQFl_lU7K79ve6yFPrc4cJT9jp863MFaoXBg7oCOkSk8OY8mrP6p1hiwECw3bio0ORZl_IKPyaIL9XHlFHM8L_9951aGfWJtl54zX_s/s1600/P1050951.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaZgk3GLqbstLYKmV2kfuqkYjzNKukUMsdMrTLQFl_lU7K79ve6yFPrc4cJT9jp863MFaoXBg7oCOkSk8OY8mrP6p1hiwECw3bio0ORZl_IKPyaIL9XHlFHM8L_9951aGfWJtl54zX_s/s400/P1050951.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596337018084888162" border="0" /></a>There is a little villa in a garden you can see, it used to be the residence of a retainer back in the old days:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK59iDKZK6g3sbNMB4wdgNgsBgDHf_CSC3TJfKD8CPqynCUw__5rQFl5h4XXN6nyQ9zul3DVvkMCe4bsQRdgsw6FUNEMJZkyAprR3r72ebFyHLgyYuh8lRxis6oQqFOAqx1ntMsktqa-U/s1600/P1050954.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK59iDKZK6g3sbNMB4wdgNgsBgDHf_CSC3TJfKD8CPqynCUw__5rQFl5h4XXN6nyQ9zul3DVvkMCe4bsQRdgsw6FUNEMJZkyAprR3r72ebFyHLgyYuh8lRxis6oQqFOAqx1ntMsktqa-U/s400/P1050954.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596337024278614850" border="0" /></a>After that we pedaled over to Higashiyama, stopping at the Eikando. The Eikando is a decent temple with a very lovely little garden tucked in a courtyard that looks different from different sides. If you are a garden lover I recommend coming to Kyoto a couple weeks later than we did, these places must look amazing with all the leaves open:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzATUN5lKJ4odS-RKO5wN8ZvpCrmALCfygKdCHXwrlS88FWzvGdK6jpUTlQARU2sWIMsbwr-lD2SzuOkekzqGa81yYEyruTIeYo6iL9rkkF2MLyQh6tnMiKCXRl9KnA7GEM-nRzOonQE/s1600/P1050958.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzATUN5lKJ4odS-RKO5wN8ZvpCrmALCfygKdCHXwrlS88FWzvGdK6jpUTlQARU2sWIMsbwr-lD2SzuOkekzqGa81yYEyruTIeYo6iL9rkkF2MLyQh6tnMiKCXRl9KnA7GEM-nRzOonQE/s400/P1050958.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596337933110377106" border="0" /></a>They've decorated the temple buildings with these colorful curtains which just scream "Eikando":<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXAA-2v2WRyrNLdluF2T9-uWveU9xZ6Mnsms4rMyKOrv7SLUUayE7NvOn1w7m5d9k3V5hOCGFJpFmMawSmvafNX6Q5sFaGhi53vpvLBJtZ1znEAiImlugsxBaxr5i3oajNPKJpEAFMvk/s1600/P1050969.JPG.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXAA-2v2WRyrNLdluF2T9-uWveU9xZ6Mnsms4rMyKOrv7SLUUayE7NvOn1w7m5d9k3V5hOCGFJpFmMawSmvafNX6Q5sFaGhi53vpvLBJtZ1znEAiImlugsxBaxr5i3oajNPKJpEAFMvk/s400/P1050969.JPG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596337941556938194" border="0" /></a>You can climb up the hill to a little pagoda halfway up. Its got a nice view of the city from up there. It looks better photographed from a distance though:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDIcDYRijen-d15QKNh01KaMorKAL1SZrLDqMEvZvTe9J1jzcmbJVpZCJSbPGzpDv38d4hywFyAW8RpyzI02IT2SpZmBvOnaGNJ_vFDmmuEaiK2Ab9EGgBfrR5jyN6i1t_TXERv99YCI/s1600/P1050990.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDIcDYRijen-d15QKNh01KaMorKAL1SZrLDqMEvZvTe9J1jzcmbJVpZCJSbPGzpDv38d4hywFyAW8RpyzI02IT2SpZmBvOnaGNJ_vFDmmuEaiK2Ab9EGgBfrR5jyN6i1t_TXERv99YCI/s400/P1050990.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596337957601695634" border="0" /></a>Our Kyoto trip continues in the <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-13-kyoto-by-rental.html">next post</a>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-10-kamogawa-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-11-yasaka-jinja-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 11 - Yasaka Jinja and Gion by Night</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-64946563314493865132011-04-15T05:50:00.000-07:002011-12-26T18:12:03.549-08:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 11 - Yasaka Jinja by Night<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6h5RK0lu5Kc_H_Pu3118XyKOHPiubQGRS0ZlbyyXz0XmffAd4oYDYduV3neg2QIpx29gRw1GIHA45IwHt3ymsF-bf3yAImTR1gTX2OS1S_W1JEqgVAlP8lpwvjnrFdu4hjT3mtN7uHB0/s1600/Kyoto+Trip+Yasaka+Jinja+Night+Lantern.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6h5RK0lu5Kc_H_Pu3118XyKOHPiubQGRS0ZlbyyXz0XmffAd4oYDYduV3neg2QIpx29gRw1GIHA45IwHt3ymsF-bf3yAImTR1gTX2OS1S_W1JEqgVAlP8lpwvjnrFdu4hjT3mtN7uHB0/s400/Kyoto+Trip+Yasaka+Jinja+Night+Lantern.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690625076905262738" border="0" /></a>On our third night we walked over from the hotel to Yasaka Jinja in the Gion area. Its an interesting place at night, overlooking the bustle of Gion:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-N-msVVRPfUD9KCJtcqKvHVsM08qYgZ6vpijmIjYVVncXulmd8z3ZgbiHV7gMcpmHcMQ4v-Jnf9InG8DR6UA1XwmIKpv00lFXSB0xVDqBU-zZtfYdcIT_L9ajwJaTXFNw4Hww0sYkLU/s1600/P1050905x.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-N-msVVRPfUD9KCJtcqKvHVsM08qYgZ6vpijmIjYVVncXulmd8z3ZgbiHV7gMcpmHcMQ4v-Jnf9InG8DR6UA1XwmIKpv00lFXSB0xVDqBU-zZtfYdcIT_L9ajwJaTXFNw4Hww0sYkLU/s400/P1050905x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793038009495922" border="0" /></a>The gate is bright orange and white:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAOkwtERLJ1ctMJ0x5N61EWimSjoJj0qXCiSmup-8_N0trHMQna1pwr4v7ZT5F2qOgavsgbR7zYh1yWC1rpFwM6aQ2WekFZx8uq2ygPHkpX840G11YSpvkMoxUEEbvIi2ST-MNR2b3fQ/s1600/P1050903.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAOkwtERLJ1ctMJ0x5N61EWimSjoJj0qXCiSmup-8_N0trHMQna1pwr4v7ZT5F2qOgavsgbR7zYh1yWC1rpFwM6aQ2WekFZx8uq2ygPHkpX840G11YSpvkMoxUEEbvIi2ST-MNR2b3fQ/s400/P1050903.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793047205721970" border="0" /></a>Large stones make for an attractive path to the centre of the Shrine. The lanterns bring it to life after dark::<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6h3EFFfLeEh77L-JcBIXL00zd4qAdNq6rdUxZd97aex621Az6hwkmjSUmX4JH-GjpJa-rd6Tw9jTSuBqJwtr7HVj8xqoHpXfppBz2nbUmYv8sEabiPutG65A9lXH6B0mY9fPSvDnxwM/s1600/P1050907.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6h3EFFfLeEh77L-JcBIXL00zd4qAdNq6rdUxZd97aex621Az6hwkmjSUmX4JH-GjpJa-rd6Tw9jTSuBqJwtr7HVj8xqoHpXfppBz2nbUmYv8sEabiPutG65A9lXH6B0mY9fPSvDnxwM/s400/P1050907.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793050600738018" border="0" /></a>Nearby in Maruyama Koen the spring splendor of the giant weeping cherry tree is fully lit:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9h92Q93BvIFUTl7eDweiN5Z4YVQteBBj584ZTfZwMYyfGHcXPHE7EQQg1fN7k-BeX6a4-5140tME9M04Iq-97VSpXHpUlJlFJ_P7Tcpq-50lLQglLBbfUJ26_y-uRH03CoVQkL_TxkU/s1600/P1050926.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9h92Q93BvIFUTl7eDweiN5Z4YVQteBBj584ZTfZwMYyfGHcXPHE7EQQg1fN7k-BeX6a4-5140tME9M04Iq-97VSpXHpUlJlFJ_P7Tcpq-50lLQglLBbfUJ26_y-uRH03CoVQkL_TxkU/s400/P1050926.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793677193302786" border="0" /></a>On the street in front of the shrine we spot a Maiko san heading off to an evening appointment and looking somewhat out of place in the modern surroundings:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X_9aH5DHhjhEmFAQZS9OWUAi4-K1e0PZpAFPeLYnP4_K2vTGilhZa0922LsGL3EFlt9Rl6AGEuL0fJU6kuq__kJBtB1GsSM-dP7dRIUksgUFIwQ4aE7zSiqDqOVR8QuaueK3czWnBSY/s1600/P1050933.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X_9aH5DHhjhEmFAQZS9OWUAi4-K1e0PZpAFPeLYnP4_K2vTGilhZa0922LsGL3EFlt9Rl6AGEuL0fJU6kuq__kJBtB1GsSM-dP7dRIUksgUFIwQ4aE7zSiqDqOVR8QuaueK3czWnBSY/s400/P1050933.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793681056782770" border="0" /></a>Around the corner though is the Gion district's main entertainment district for the well to do, a fitting destination for her:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh303IaAdUCCpuF5uC4h-gUqXA1bg4yYJEcHUCK5g5PNxRdoz-M_EXnf58kQ56oIjIEQXuPEG1VprQdXQfwStS-82WnvT2jVoFZGjlLmnM3XaspIdRPSouKOnZ6L6AFZqlQzp3eUnv85xM/s1600/P1050934.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh303IaAdUCCpuF5uC4h-gUqXA1bg4yYJEcHUCK5g5PNxRdoz-M_EXnf58kQ56oIjIEQXuPEG1VprQdXQfwStS-82WnvT2jVoFZGjlLmnM3XaspIdRPSouKOnZ6L6AFZqlQzp3eUnv85xM/s400/P1050934.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793685102808514" border="0" /></a>After watching her duck discreetly into a doorway, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLqw-RmnBBlxMmAnD9eRzXM1lv0SL00cfaUbpOlTFg5fUPHoe18Ud495WqFpAHfAZsWT0qmsoFwwnJM3qSGP0gIxFcjMscG54vdQl9yYn775wqqN9XLIcxSTxRrc2oUalQJmNCxCjje0/s1600/P1050908.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLqw-RmnBBlxMmAnD9eRzXM1lv0SL00cfaUbpOlTFg5fUPHoe18Ud495WqFpAHfAZsWT0qmsoFwwnJM3qSGP0gIxFcjMscG54vdQl9yYn775wqqN9XLIcxSTxRrc2oUalQJmNCxCjje0/s400/P1050908.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595793052367199314" border="0" /></a>Continued in the <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-12-kyoto-gosho-and.html">next post</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-10-kamogawa-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-34864420447275768542011-04-12T19:14:00.000-07:002011-04-12T19:40:41.040-07:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIO4yuVi1rjJx20m4VgSgXizsDyzTLP1cwEA_ZsqBaHYB5nO0381ZSOKglnNTR_MwOy36w18vqskHT0DCuxwnIcF_3LOI7w-dVv4Pju62hR3gnYfloNowa_SZZQmbo7ZFRwJAEEKuXXaU/s1600/P1050855.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIO4yuVi1rjJx20m4VgSgXizsDyzTLP1cwEA_ZsqBaHYB5nO0381ZSOKglnNTR_MwOy36w18vqskHT0DCuxwnIcF_3LOI7w-dVv4Pju62hR3gnYfloNowa_SZZQmbo7ZFRwJAEEKuXXaU/s400/P1050855.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594887437056016738" border="0" /></a>The Kamogawa is a nice river that runs north-south through central Kyoto. Along the banks the city has created an excellent cycling/pedestrian path that provides a great, tree-lined way of traversing the city by bicycle.<br /><br />On the west bank of the river as you near central Kyoto you notice a long line of multi-story, older looking buildings facing the river:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkYIoWjLy3DrIrgucRUwCW-We9a59kdJRLXnJo2Kl1v5iGN-WE53jvWiltmrx0TYKWZSUEu1Hob-VqbxpDCtJmvuIRGZht8slpUYUKFwGiGFKQrC2Le1M9zeTWuFia8MXfSDY4eC6Om8/s1600/P1050856xx.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkYIoWjLy3DrIrgucRUwCW-We9a59kdJRLXnJo2Kl1v5iGN-WE53jvWiltmrx0TYKWZSUEu1Hob-VqbxpDCtJmvuIRGZht8slpUYUKFwGiGFKQrC2Le1M9zeTWuFia8MXfSDY4eC6Om8/s400/P1050856xx.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594889367421894722" border="0" /></a>This is the Pontocho area, an alley running next to the river which houses many of the most exclusive entertainment establishments in town. At night they light up and you can see the goings on within from a bridge crossing the river:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCbDFPZc_EoMqJo6_Qy5bIyV6xeyqYasJDzrRgvd9AWV9537oc28haFpfHKKDqIgGQR3ojrTChiXfn5dThX4RbmEhwN4Z51lUkoAD8gOavha81jOxwaN1wXrUvBpxJEaN4pq7Wf0zHdA/s1600/P1050895.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCbDFPZc_EoMqJo6_Qy5bIyV6xeyqYasJDzrRgvd9AWV9537oc28haFpfHKKDqIgGQR3ojrTChiXfn5dThX4RbmEhwN4Z51lUkoAD8gOavha81jOxwaN1wXrUvBpxJEaN4pq7Wf0zHdA/s400/P1050895.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594888109061029954" border="0" /></a>These places are way more than our budget would allow for, so we didn't venture in. If you venture a further block away from the river though you'll find one of the better cherry blossom viewing places in Kyoto along a small canal that runs parallel to Pontocho:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGO_Bq1QvwEgUTpTOmWI5N4pR9zsr4jL3SksAxrtkgvLzY7XhyphenhyphenA9koSt0vyHfTZFxiMFoelpu4aVnSpCzQ4CF5rj5GFXHSvhrvsvlT5gYPKCt0CVhrRMAz5gbiBsjV6CNJLFfq62H8kyk/s1600/P1050843.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGO_Bq1QvwEgUTpTOmWI5N4pR9zsr4jL3SksAxrtkgvLzY7XhyphenhyphenA9koSt0vyHfTZFxiMFoelpu4aVnSpCzQ4CF5rj5GFXHSvhrvsvlT5gYPKCt0CVhrRMAz5gbiBsjV6CNJLFfq62H8kyk/s400/P1050843.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594887423339657442" border="0" /></a>Some of the shops are interesting, like this one with a giant lantern (called "red mustache", note the illustration on the top):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1frTmovQLyNXBEYid3BP14-n7POBvYaZxxth1bTrng31XhS1rmVnmqU-kI56iT3gPaFYaIeNiAnjizar0S9zruvHhyphenhyphenJRaYKeNDfdvRjWXY887I7bzsIPcG_8XKGXjnEeEOBpr9H1avFk/s1600/P1050848.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1frTmovQLyNXBEYid3BP14-n7POBvYaZxxth1bTrng31XhS1rmVnmqU-kI56iT3gPaFYaIeNiAnjizar0S9zruvHhyphenhyphenJRaYKeNDfdvRjWXY887I7bzsIPcG_8XKGXjnEeEOBpr9H1avFk/s400/P1050848.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594887434144688706" border="0" /></a>There are some quirky shops and restaurants along this street which are much less upscale than the ones on neighboring Pontocho.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rVOp4t-2OPXIflM-k_8GN1uNnoLHSuHNu-YNDJ0ZzdO7UEH5C2E9B4tZJGCDbNO9fxVeI1EsYyKRMI8-AgN9toIKj-QCQpamBnD7JEhKCJKK0U9bAYwQpGlieVrLnVlKFrSNXj1uG2o/s1600/P1050847.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rVOp4t-2OPXIflM-k_8GN1uNnoLHSuHNu-YNDJ0ZzdO7UEH5C2E9B4tZJGCDbNO9fxVeI1EsYyKRMI8-AgN9toIKj-QCQpamBnD7JEhKCJKK0U9bAYwQpGlieVrLnVlKFrSNXj1uG2o/s400/P1050847.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594887423898514194" border="0" /></a>For reasons which are not entirely clear to me, a lot of Kyoto's pornography stores also line this street, a fact that we found amusing as the tourist brochures carefully crop them out of the photos.<br /><br />Kyoto's Kabuki theatre is also nearby, albeit on the opposite bank of the Kamo river:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMmwVANZWVYDoeShslspd4Ggon52tu2yerMwuRaARZ61ZJVwnjgvbKHsmLP94Fsv276gloUWZUDYVgEnIO7XNJEkXYgStRdBayjTfSSSXEqcNOiqvkAqo1clUpOzyETjU5Ll6cuXAxIs/s1600/P1050858.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMmwVANZWVYDoeShslspd4Ggon52tu2yerMwuRaARZ61ZJVwnjgvbKHsmLP94Fsv276gloUWZUDYVgEnIO7XNJEkXYgStRdBayjTfSSSXEqcNOiqvkAqo1clUpOzyETjU5Ll6cuXAxIs/s400/P1050858.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594887442258156002" border="0" /></a>Its got a bit of class to it, though unless you are planning on seeing a Kabuki play I wouldn't recommend tracking it down just for the sake of seeing the building.<br /><br />To be continued...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-81478011919028618092011-04-11T16:41:00.000-07:002011-04-13T17:04:33.122-07:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaVnrdGhkGDoP6pnwOCUNahbjr9i9ELEHvIBYrMWKtKTvOfA8AKDfNUQaBWD4UrEFDqRiVxe_Hx4TUYnzPtvJFBqWpnRj7pdLxN6pH62xlpFS13XaZiB5GPBz5IdNeqUQbL8FAhFaptg/s1600/P1050419x.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaVnrdGhkGDoP6pnwOCUNahbjr9i9ELEHvIBYrMWKtKTvOfA8AKDfNUQaBWD4UrEFDqRiVxe_Hx4TUYnzPtvJFBqWpnRj7pdLxN6pH62xlpFS13XaZiB5GPBz5IdNeqUQbL8FAhFaptg/s400/P1050419x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594476088501018242" border="0" /></a>Today marks exactly one month since the Tohoku earthquake devastated northeastern Japan. One of the side effects of the tsunami that has affected the country as a whole has been its effects on the tourism industry. The Japan Times <a href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110407a4.html">reported</a> last week that the number of foreign visitors to Japan arriving via Narita airport, Japan's largest, was down 75% in the period from the earthquake through to the end of March. Another <a href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110414a1.html">article</a> further suggests that domestic tourism is down as well.<br /><br />We planned our Kyoto trip in late February, before the quake hit. At the time it looked like Kyoto would be bursting to the seams with tourists. We couldn't even book a hotel for all three days as every hotel in the city (except for some exclusive ryokan charging way more than we could afford) was booked for the first day. We ended up having to stay our first night in a business hotel in Shin-Osaka. The other two nights we spent at the Kyoto Central Inn (which is a good place to stay, location wise at least).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz5Cizj00XTz3wP2uEVY18D0dj_Xucqa6OZ3uvmQk51vgGofkAnQO8_TeoA3V7q91c7ClaHRsmeuMsIg6XlrpsFMTdd5ZdqXdZj5CmQpXP3oToCeLju8eCCB7SuJVfxm8b3YJq_0FQ7c/s1600/P1050748.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz5Cizj00XTz3wP2uEVY18D0dj_Xucqa6OZ3uvmQk51vgGofkAnQO8_TeoA3V7q91c7ClaHRsmeuMsIg6XlrpsFMTdd5ZdqXdZj5CmQpXP3oToCeLju8eCCB7SuJVfxm8b3YJq_0FQ7c/s400/P1050748.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594476093562669250" border="0" /></a>After the quake struck, we weren't sure if we should still go on the trip. Kyoto is closer to, but still quite far from, the disaster area. More than that though, it just seemed unfair for us to be doing something enjoyable at a time when so many people are undergoing so much misery.<br /><br />This is a feeling that has been noticeable all across Japan. This last week saw the height of the cherry blossom season, which is normally Hanami party time in Japan. In my discussions with people around Fukuoka and from watching the news in late March as the season approached, it became apparent that a lot of people were worried about the Hanami season this year. Should they abandon their usual party plans out of respect for the dead or should they go ahead as usual in order to buoy everyone's spirits? Quite the conundrum.<br /><br />In the end, Japan's cherry blossom party-goers, at least in Western Japan, went ahead and had their parties. Kyoto's Maryuama Koen was packed with revelers while we were there, and Fukuoka's cherry blossom hot-spot, Maizuru Koen, was likewise packed this past Sunday when we went for a visit. I won't try to justify our decision to go ahead as planned with some sort of self-serving justification (a-la "we're buying a sofa to support the country" that was the rallying cry of America's monied classes after 9-11). Suffice it to say that we couldn't think of any harm in going and staying home just out of some vague sense of guilt didn't seem right either. So we went.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz5Cizj00XTz3wP2uEVY18D0dj_Xucqa6OZ3uvmQk51vgGofkAnQO8_TeoA3V7q91c7ClaHRsmeuMsIg6XlrpsFMTdd5ZdqXdZj5CmQpXP3oToCeLju8eCCB7SuJVfxm8b3YJq_0FQ7c/s1600/P1050748.jpg"><br /></a>Anyway, back to Kyoto. At first glance, the city seemed its usual self. Loads of tourists everywhere. Kiyomizu temple, as usual, was thronged with visitors, as were the streets leading up to it. Some local people we spoke to painted a different picture, however.<br /><br />For 3 of our 4 days in Kyoto we got around on rented bicycles (see future post on this excellent way of seeing the city). The rental place, located just south of Kyoto station, told us that usually during the cherry blossom season they'd be swamped, but not this year. We didn't have any reservations, but were nonetheless able to get our choice of bikes each day just by showing up. They had plenty to spare, even on the sunny Saturday and Sunday that we visited.<br /><br />The Yakitori restaurant that we ate dinner at on our second day was also suffering from the effects of the tsunami. The place was more than half empty when we arrived at dinner time and the waiter told us this was partly due to their having to cut back heavily on the menu items available. This is a problem that seems to affect a lot of restaurants that depend on distribution systems that have been ravaged by the crisis for their ingredients. A lot of the stuff on their menu was simply unavailable because the stuff needed to make it couldn't be procured due to the quake.<br /><br />Other than those anecdotal accounts, its a bit hard to gauge the exact effects of the quake on Kyoto's tourism industry, which might be taken as a good barometer for Japan as a whole as the city is the country's main attraction. While the main tourist district around Higashiyama was packed (as usual) some of the sites slightly off the beaten path that we went to like Ninnaji and Sanzenin were the opposite - at times we almost felt like we had the places completely to ourselves. That may have been just coincidence, though we visited both those places on nice sunny days.<br /><br />Anyway, I may as well end this post by reminding everyone (yet again) that <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/03/nuclear-disasters-tsunamis-and.html">opportunities</a> to help the victims of the quake still exist and any contributions you can make would be greatly appreciated.<br /><br />To be continued...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-8-kyoto-station-vs.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4533323150763503385.post-21061062740919551382011-04-10T19:48:00.000-07:002011-12-26T18:15:19.906-08:00Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6QFacm5tV0mmrK6m4Vtn0j3N2E1wkJdszLxFzcqppAuLBmB_MvZAJ39KYyjk_hwx8TG0GGt7WPZoE9BTTifEMVqSInDmDnHu2puOOUlUSLU3ipPbr2a8zF1cASkLoQSiIflZdXUgIe8/s1600/P1060082.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6QFacm5tV0mmrK6m4Vtn0j3N2E1wkJdszLxFzcqppAuLBmB_MvZAJ39KYyjk_hwx8TG0GGt7WPZoE9BTTifEMVqSInDmDnHu2puOOUlUSLU3ipPbr2a8zF1cASkLoQSiIflZdXUgIe8/s400/P1060082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594153815331292610" border="0" /></a>Two of Kyoto's more contemporary sites of interest exist side by side in the centre of town: Kyoto Station and Kyoto Tower.<br /><br />Kyoto Station was opened in 1997. Designed by Hiroshi Hara, its one of Kyoto's more controversial structures. It is massive. 70 metres high and nearly half a kilometre in length, it looks as if someone parked an aircraft carrier in the middle of the city. A lot of people hate the thing because it is totally out of touch with Kyoto's traditions - no elements of the traditional architecture the city is (or was) famous for are to be found in it and the sheer scale of it just totally overwhelms everything around it. Its external appearance is also pretty awful, the aircraft carrier analogy applies not just to its size but to its aesthetic qualities, though in fairness it does have a lot more windows than a carrier does.<br /><br />Anyway, a lot of other people have already written about what a massive vanity project the thing is so I won't go much further into that. I think its critics probably place too much emphasis on the building as the "destroyer of traditional Kyoto", a process that was already well under way by the time the thing opened. It also has to be noted that the previous station built in the 50s which it replaced was a pretty god-awful piece of work too.<br /><br />It does at least have the benefit of being an interesting place. The unnecessary flourishes which the architect included, which really represent the height of bubble-era ostentation in public works projects, are an impressive sight. The interior looks like it could easily house the Hindenberg:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPz_z0g-usEaVap5T7dxk4J3x4Anhh8nnphAeeSbq-xuC33HCD0XUYgSB63vzqp4HwHu-ZuHv67aVm5t5JTIMalNb5PyQnAvhWCP_CCGPYbqEloXdlAl4nbKq7nWgn5CwcNFHbqUB50Y/s1600/P1050350.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPz_z0g-usEaVap5T7dxk4J3x4Anhh8nnphAeeSbq-xuC33HCD0XUYgSB63vzqp4HwHu-ZuHv67aVm5t5JTIMalNb5PyQnAvhWCP_CCGPYbqEloXdlAl4nbKq7nWgn5CwcNFHbqUB50Y/s400/P1050350.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594154900954274114" border="0" /></a>It has all sorts of useless "stuff" cluttering up the view, which actually makes the gray-ness much more palatable :<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaf4OCW_Z48grae13xeg-Fv7-D79FsuO4FcCp2KVS5NUG6RsW6ClR87RbiEYEKUAuwCQMJA5c19kYWyUUNU5T_czNW67G9333nMC8QR-fNlpdMZ81zHIyIccyqvRAMuu3pMn55c13WJ7o/s1600/Kyoto+Station.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaf4OCW_Z48grae13xeg-Fv7-D79FsuO4FcCp2KVS5NUG6RsW6ClR87RbiEYEKUAuwCQMJA5c19kYWyUUNU5T_czNW67G9333nMC8QR-fNlpdMZ81zHIyIccyqvRAMuu3pMn55c13WJ7o/s400/Kyoto+Station.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690625717744435026" border="0" /></a>The most interesting feature of Kyoto Station is the massive set of escalators. They take you from street level all the way to the top of the building in one long, continuous route. After the second floor, they are almost completely empty. Its a unique experience to ride them though, especially at night. I took a video of the whole journey from top to bottom <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOBLwLmcXvI">here</a>, with musical accompaniment and everything!<br /><br />As a side note, this is a picture of the Kyoto station police office:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyockfd0FPkwDQ7wQ0RwPK-H20XRyHiluYrIKD5e9u6DT4goJCgt5E72gWSJJw2XZ3MCcrR53qZ8zSVQ8daYD_fTKRQeJTRFEwcHIs5ZyNpgfoCRxP2fRTCFKdgAjfUrjdaMNwC9pkNw/s1600/P1050347.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyockfd0FPkwDQ7wQ0RwPK-H20XRyHiluYrIKD5e9u6DT4goJCgt5E72gWSJJw2XZ3MCcrR53qZ8zSVQ8daYD_fTKRQeJTRFEwcHIs5ZyNpgfoCRxP2fRTCFKdgAjfUrjdaMNwC9pkNw/s400/P1050347.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594154909742447682" border="0" /></a>This provides for a brief detour into one of the more unusual and little-known side effects of the plethora of escalators which Kyoto Station is endowed with: creepy old men using hidden cameras to take up-skirt videos of women on said escalators.<br /><br />We were watching a news program (kind of a Japanese '60 Minutes' type of thing) a few months ago which did a piece on this issue. Apparently it has become such a problem that Kyoto station actually employs a plain clothes police officer whose job it is to patrol the station looking for these guys.<br /><br />The piece was actually kind of amusing because while filming (with a hidden camera) the officer actually caught a guy doing that. He had a video camera hidden in a briefcase with a little hole in the side. I say it was "amusing" because it really was amusing to watch a guy trying to quickly come up with a valid reason for having a hidden video camera in his briefcase that he was carrying while repeatedly going up and down the same escalator. Try doing it yourself (I mean thinking up such an excuse, not taking such videos), its all but impossible.<br /><br />Anyway, enough about that. The only other thing I'll say about Kyoto station is that you should avoid the bathrooms on the south side at all costs. They do not have toilet paper. You have to go and buy it from a toilet paper vending machine. Seriously. Apparently they spent so much money on that bloody roof that they didn't have any money left in the budget for toilet paper. Only in the bathrooms on the south side though, the north side bathrooms (oddly enough) have free toilet paper.<br /><br />Moving on - across the street from the station is Kyoto Tower. Built in the 60s, it also has been criticized for many of the same things that Kyoto Station is (ie its complete lack of connection with Kyoto's past).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-NBnyM5GGidapGeSaZ_WjE71pGHmS8Jv2QES6m0qFfrH8Vej8va_eIorT0EdR5G5NxDnB5MRn0gzK-v7a1EfBQT11HAalmt_UUphA59ApRVGBUXOSJLLFuuD5OYT2yR4R585kM_ZMiI/s1600/Kyoto+Tower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-NBnyM5GGidapGeSaZ_WjE71pGHmS8Jv2QES6m0qFfrH8Vej8va_eIorT0EdR5G5NxDnB5MRn0gzK-v7a1EfBQT11HAalmt_UUphA59ApRVGBUXOSJLLFuuD5OYT2yR4R585kM_ZMiI/s400/Kyoto+Tower.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690625722826179362" border="0" /></a>I have to say that I really dislike Kyoto Tower. I've never been up it, but I've been in the building a couple times. The reason I've never gone to the top is that it costs 700 yen to do so. To put that in perspective, we visited more than half a dozen top class UNESCO world heritage sights in the city during our trip and not a single one charged that much for admission. And this is just to ride a frigging elevator! Also it needs to be pointed out that the observation deck at Kyoto Station across the street is completely free and provides almost as good a view (though its a bit shorter).<br /><br />And the fact that Hakata Port Tower, which is almost exactly the same as Kyoto Tower, is completely free to go up does nothing to endear Kyoto's star attraction to visitors from Fukuoka either.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOzava-6b89rTd3Vfz9yEnMH3MsufNbl6C6znVFrAdBylS37fKQMUTn1Vl_aiqr7NQjVjfIIXBoes_VHzbnvFJ7RMPKUYoejUH0eiQ9Bwg-kMU8a3bdiWFz3natVfkvDEGVYo-Xyp1Ss/s1600/P1060079.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOzava-6b89rTd3Vfz9yEnMH3MsufNbl6C6znVFrAdBylS37fKQMUTn1Vl_aiqr7NQjVjfIIXBoes_VHzbnvFJ7RMPKUYoejUH0eiQ9Bwg-kMU8a3bdiWFz3natVfkvDEGVYo-Xyp1Ss/s400/P1060079.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594153827600262754" border="0" /></a>Anyway, as I've said I've been in the building a couple times. The first few floors are souvenir shops and there is a book store as well. The souvenir shop on the ground floor looks like something out of the 60s (which it is):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJDRi0Ombw9Ua-_R_bWboUu5Ar-NP3C2wM6-hnOZiBUrytRG2eoHPo4AeiN0YantnfR3B-eu0jKfR9ZzK83PofKLuqow1ANGUNrq9bMiJfi8FRpev5e588G_ENeSsWquNjbTgLQCr5GA/s1600/P1060075.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJDRi0Ombw9Ua-_R_bWboUu5Ar-NP3C2wM6-hnOZiBUrytRG2eoHPo4AeiN0YantnfR3B-eu0jKfR9ZzK83PofKLuqow1ANGUNrq9bMiJfi8FRpev5e588G_ENeSsWquNjbTgLQCr5GA/s400/P1060075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594153824321938306" border="0" /></a>I really hate the souvenir shops at Kyoto Tower though and recommend avoiding the place entirely. The sales staff are some of the pushiest I have ever experienced in Japan and their entire stock is just the regular crap you can buy anywhere.<br /><br />Anyway, that is the Station and the Tower - probably the first two things that any visitor to Kyoto will see and, ironically, probably the two least attuned to the things people come to the city to see.<br /><br />Our Kyoto trip continues in the <a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">next post</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Related Posts:</span><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-1-tofukuji-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-2-kiyomizu-temple-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-3-ryoanji-and-ninnaji.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-4-shopping-arcades-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-5-antiquing-japanese.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-6-cute-buddhist-statues.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 6 - Cute Buddhist Statues</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-7-ohara-and-wrath-of.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-9-japanese-tourism-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 9 - Japanese Tourism and the Earthquake</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-10-kamogawa-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 10 - Kamogawa and Pontocho</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-11-yasaka-jinja-by.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 11 - Yasaka Jinja and Gion by Night</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-12-kyoto-gosho-and.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 12 - Kyoto Gosho and Eikando</a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-13-kyoto-by-rental.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 13 - Kyoto by Rental Cycle</span></a><br /><a href="http://ablogofsean.blogspot.com/2011/04/kyoto-trip-part-14-philosophers-path.html">- Kyoto the Trip! Part 14 - Philosopher's Path, Nanzenji and Goodbye!</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0