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The above will search Traveljapanblog.com. Concerts - Landscapes - Sports |
Another random image off my hard drive for you today. This is Michael Amott of Arch Enemy playing at Loud Park in Japan in 2009. Arch Enemy is one of those bands that has hit it big in Japan compared to their popularity in most other places in the world. In fact, they probably wouldn’t even exist were it not for their early success in Japan.
Arch Enemy is supposed to be entering the studio to record their next album today, scheduled for a May 2011 release.
My random, desktop image of the day is this photo from Toshogu in Nikko. I took this picture this past February. Although this building looks rather splendid, especially in the snow, it’s actually a mere storeroom.
This is a picture of Chanko or Sumo Soup. You can actually purchase and consume Chanko at the Sumo arena (Ryogoku Kokugikan) in Tokyo if you know where to look and are there at the right time. I took this picture there last September. The price can’t be beat at just 250 yen a bowl. I went back for seconds.
The November tournament in Kyushu just finished, and it turned out far more exciting than I predicted a couple weeks ago. Toyonoshima lost just one match to become the first Japanese sumo wrestler with a chance to win the tournament in many years. However, he lost a playoff to Hakuho, who also had only one defeat, extending Hakuho’s dominance of the sport.
The Tenso Jinja Shinto Shrine near our apartment frequently has festivals. Lanterns are strung up for the occasion. Not that I ever saw another foreigner there, but a foreigner who couldn’t read Japanese would probably look at the lanterns as rather exotic and quite cool with the Japanese characters and all. As I mentioned before, though, such lanterns are just advertisements.
The ad for the lantern on the far right, for instance, is for ヘアーイマジン (Hair Imagine), probably a local hair salon. Next to it is 一風堂 (Ippudo), a ramen restaurant. They actually have Ippudo Ramen in New York now. Hopefully it spreads across the country and one opens in my town. See, the advertising worked! 😉
This Thanksgiving I’m in Eugene, Oregon eating a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with family. Last Thanksgiving I went to Kamakura by myself and had a PB&J to eat. The food may be better this year, but I’ll always remember the fall colors from my Thanksgiving in Kamakura.
The establishment in the background says “Karaoke and Party” (カラオケ & パーテイー). If you have seen “Lost in Translation” you may be familiar with these kinds of places. This particular カラオケ館 (they are all over Tokyo) is to the southeast of Ikebukuro Station.