Japanese baseball has begun and my Lions won on opening night (4/3/09). I’m hoping they can keep it up so that by the time we get there they will still be in the thick of things.

If you ever go to a baseball game in Japan note that your experience will be radically different depending on where you sit. Sit in the outfield and, not only will you pay much less for your ticket but, you will be in the thick of the ouendan (応援団), or cheering sections, of the crowds. Sit near home plate and things will be much less lively, perhaps even boring. The fans in the outfield tend to be much more friendly too.

Posted on April 4th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: baseball, people, seibu lions, tokorozawa. Comments Off on Opening day

Why are these two photographers pointing their camera at me and taking my picture? Have they never seen a gaijin before?

Actually they probably couldn’t even see me. They are taking pictures of Himeji Castle. I was in the top room taking pictures from quite a distance with maximum zoom. I didn’t even realize I had captured a couple of photographers looking my way until I offloaded the pictures onto my computer and cropped out much of the image.

Posted on April 3rd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: castle, cherry blossoms, himeji, sakura. Comments: 3

“For most of the night the rain splashed out of holes in the drainpipe and clattered on the window panes. And when I went downstairs to the lavatory, I found it crawling with inquisitive, bright orange maggots.

The rain stopped at five o’clock but the maggots were still there when I finally got up. So twice in the space of a couple of hours I was glad that rural Japanese-style lavatories… did not require my bum to come in contact with the porcelain. Hygienic-minded people have praised the arrangement on this account, though I can think of several drawbacks; …the pains and cramps that an unsupported squat must inflict on the elderly, the ill, the crippled, or the heavily pregnant. And here were a few dozen more little drawbacks, doing orange congas round the inside of the bowl.”

(Alan Booth in Looking for the Lost p. 173)

Posted on April 2nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: alan booth, japanese toilet, toilets. Comments: 1

This was a sign board on the Hakone Loop. Notice the interesting flavors. Sure you can still get vanilla, chocolate (cocoa), and strawberry, but have you ever been able to order purple sweet potato, green soybean, bean jam, potato chips, or tiny rice cracker flavor ice cream before?

Burend is not a brand name. It is supposed to be blend as in ブレンドソフトアイスクリーム.

Posted on April 1st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, hakone, signs. Comments: 1

I don’t recall how I heard about The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei, たそがれ清兵衛). I suppose I was just browsing around on Netflix or IMDB and it showed up as a highly rated Japanese film. In any event, I recently watched it and loved it. If you are watching it to practice your Japanese you may be a bit disappointed in that regard as the language is rather difficult and dated since the setting is that of about 150 years ago.

The story is wonderful, however, as is the acting. Perhaps the best thing is the scenery. The viewer is taken back to the day and made to feel as if they are really there in the late Edo period. The sets are well done as are the nature and landscape scenes.

I don’t want to go into the story or plot line as that will ruin it for those who like to be surprised by a movie (like I do). The DVD version that I watched included an interview (in Japanese with English audio translation) with the director, Yoji Yamada. It also included an interview, completely in English, with the main actor, Hiroyuki Sanada.

Go out and get this. You won’t be disappointed. My 13-year old even enjoyed it.

Posted on March 31st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: reviews. Comments Off on The Twilight Samurai