Jan 17, 2009
Walking down to the gym the other night when I came across this gem of a sign:
Tamachi is a station on the Yamanote loop line in Tokyo. There are a lot of offices in the area - including the head office of NEC so there are a correspondingly large number of restaurants and bars in the area.
At the top the sign says “Motsu Dining and Global Restaurant” - with motsu being Japanese for offal. Being a global restaurant I wonder if they sell haggis?
And the real question - if they relocated, could you call that a “bowel movement”?
Oct 11, 2008
I found this beautiful website - http://www.hdrjapan.com/ while surfing yesterday and thought the photos so gorgeously luscious that I just had to post some of them here.
Katsuren Castle
Katusuren Castle is located on the Katsuren Peninsula on the eastern coast of Okinawa. Today, the ruins of the castle are an educational attraction, hosting tourists, schoolchildren, amateur historians, and curious passersby.
Obon in Okinawa
Obon is a three-day holiday set aside each summer to honor deceased ancestors. During this period, family members celebrate the return of ancestral spirits by gathering together, feasting, and praying.
Hamahiga Island
Hamahiga Island is a small landmass located off the Katsuren Peninsula on the eastern coast of Okinawa Honto. Roughly 2.5 square kilometers in area, Hamahiga’s small size belies its importance in Ryukyu mythology. The island’s name comes from the two communities on opposite sides of the small mass: Hama and Higa.
I haven’t travelled to Okinawa (yet), but looking at these photos makes me really want to visit those idyllic islands. Of course the photos are HDR photos which always makes photos seem completely mindblowing but wow! it does look fascinating. I particularly like the third image posted above as I think it quite captures the ambient mood of early evenings out on the islands.
You can see more of the photos here: http://www.hdrjapan.com/.
Wouldn’t you just love to visit there?
Sep 17, 2008
I took this photo last weekend. I quite like the contrast of the colours between the limo and the crane, not to mention their utilitarian relationship.
Sep 17, 2008
This picture popped up on popurls (via reddit) and I thought it was too delicious not to post.
The photo was taken by Noface2 and the original can be found here.
That sense of humour is something I do miss about New Zealand. Here in Japan I have never seen a job post anything like that. Hope they find a good burger flipping existentialist.
And who said flipping burgers was a bad job?
Aug 16, 2008
Found this delightful picture over at engrish.com. In case of fire please use this hand grenade… although the Chinese is normal enough. I wonder how they ended up with a translation into English that funny. Maybe a disgruntled employee?
Still I suppose if you were really hungry you could try fishing with it!
Jul 27, 2008
Purple Sky over Azabu-juban
I took this photo just before at dusk. Never have I seen the sky that colour before. It has been very hot and muggy here for days on end. Light drizzle this afternoon. Summer in Tokyo keeps rolling on strong.
Jun 9, 2008
I love this sign! It says “Don’t give the pigeons food!” and then the pigeon says “Stop it! I don’t need food!”
Is this just a case of anthropomorphism or do Japanese pigeons have much more refined tastes than their human counterparts?
Jun 6, 2008
This sign says “Here is not a toilet! Bad!”
If you relieve yourself here a giant hand will appear out of the sky and poke you in the back. This is a new variation of the time-honoured Japanese art of kancho (here is a Korean flash game you can play if you want to practice (NSFW)). Amazing really the technology advances available to the powers that be in Japan.
I remember when we were driving in Akita, one snowy wintry day, when an old man in a little truck stopped in the middle of the road, got out and began to draw in the snow. The traffic backed up quite a way (Japanese roads are narrower than a narrow thing so no-one had the, uh, balls to pass), but he was oblivious to it all. Nonchalantly he wandered back to his truck and drove off. It was less shocking than seeing a taxi driver in Kyoto masturbating at the taxi stand while waiting for customers, but still it was a little surprising.
May 31, 2008
Before we left Japan for China, we visited the Boso Peninsula, which is part of Chiba prefecture and forms one side of the entrance to Tokyo Bay. We took the train down from Tokyo through to the Miura Peninsula. Miura Peninsula is the site of the American military base at Yokosuka. From Kurihama on the Miura Peninsula, we took the ferry across the bay (Japanese only site) to the port at Kaneya in Chiba. We visited the Giant Buddha at Nihondera, took the cable car and enjoyed a nice walk around there. We stayed at a little ryokan in Tateyama City. The next day we went around the tip of the peninsula.
It is a nice trip / weekend away from Tokyo. Being vegetarian we didn’t take advantage of the areas bountious seafoods which the peninsula is famous for. We went just after I bought the camera, so some of the photos have a strangely bluish hue to them.
May 30, 2008
Sometimes we see products in Japan or other parts of Asia with strange names that are obviously the product of very bad translation attempts, but here we have the Bush Cutter George Jr. which I think is the product more of a cutting (excuse the pun) sense of humour.
Produced by Japanese Agricultural machinery manufacturer Canycom, the Bush Cutter George Jr. is part of a line-up which also includes the wonderfully named Hillary - a wheelbarrow with tank tracks.
What will they do if Obama wins the presidency?
