I’ve said it before, and may say it again, but stop watching the western news about Japan. There is so much ignorant nonsense and unscientific reporting going on that to not watch, hear, or read it at all will give you a better idea of reality than trying to wade through the dung.

If you’d like to get an update from a far more knowledgeable source, check out this video below.

This is Gerald (Gerry) Curtis speaking on “The Economic, Health, and Political Consequences of Japan’s Earthquake.”

Posted on March 28th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: video. Comments: 1

There is more to Shirakawago than thatched roof houses (gasshozukuri).

Posted on March 28th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: rice paddy, shirakawago. Comments: 1

I spotted this Japanese grass lizard (カナヘビ or Takydromus tachydromoides) on my hike of Mt. Kuratake near Otsuki, Japan. This lizard doesn’t look all that different from lizards I’ve seen in my neck of the woods, except the tail is much longer.

Posted on March 26th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: wildlife. Comments Off on Japanese lizard

The building in the center may look like a nuclear power plant to the untrained eye, or to someone at Fox News, but it is actually one of Tokyo’s many incinerators. I was able to tour a different one, and the experience has forever changed my world view of garbage.

There aren’t any nuclear power plants in Tokyo. And in case the radiation hysteria has entered your mind as well, know that as of this writing Tokyo still has lower radiation levels than most big cities in the world.

Posted on March 25th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: aerial photography, ebisu, Tokyo. Comments Off on Meguro Waste Incineration Plant

December of 2009 marked the first time in 11 years that holiday lights lined Harajuku’s famous Omotesando. Everyone, and I mean everyone, came to see them. We couldn’t move. It was pretty though and quite festive with the incredible crowds.

Posted on March 24th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: harajuku, night photography. Comments Off on Omotesando (Harajuku) lights