Hinomaru Driving School (日の丸自動車学校) from Ebisu Garden Place Tower

Driving schools in Japan are big business. Unlike the USA, where most drivers pay little or nothing to learn how to drive and get a drivers license, Japanese drivers typically pay $3,000 – $5,000 to go to driving school and obtain a license. That’s assuming they pass on their first attempt. It costs even more if they don’t pass and then go back to driving school, etc. So it should come as no surprise that the schools can be fairly elaborate affairs in fancy buildings with color-coded cars, driving courses, etc.

The driving school in today’s photo is walking distance from the Ebisu and Meguro Stations in Tokyo.

Posted on September 24th, 2014 under Japan. Tags: aerial photography, ebisu, Tokyo. Comments Off on Hinomaru Driving School

Posted on September 23rd, 2014 under Japan. Tags: flowers, rain, shirakawago, thatch roof. Comments Off on Rain drops

USJ Hello Kitty train – JR Yumesaki Line

Posted on September 19th, 2014 under Japan. Tags: amusement parks, hello kitty, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D600, osaka, trains. Comments Off on Hello Kitty train on the way to Universal Studios Osaka

Model 96 15cm howitzer @ Yasukuni Shrine (Tokyo, Japan)

Posted on September 15th, 2014 under Japan. Tags: yasukuni. Comments Off on Comforting the noble souls of the war dead

I finished this book by Romulus Hillsborough today. I thought I knew a lot about the end of feudalism in Japan and the beginnings of the Meiji Era, but most of the contents of this book were new to me. I highly recommend reading it.

Some of my favorite parts dealt with places I have visited in Japan. For instance, the story of Katsu Kaishu (勝海舟) having to make a large donation to Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社) before they would take his sword, a symbol of the historic peace accord he had just negotiated on Miyajima, brought back fond memories of my time there (as well as memories of how shrines ask for money for just about everything, including offerings required for the shrine to burn the object that you had to pay the shrine for to use as a good luck charm the prior year).

You will also learn about the entire back story that ultimately resulted in this statue in Ueno (and why it is in Ueno).

I’ve spent many hours in Akasaka in Tokyo so hearing about what it was like in the 19th Century was fascinating.

Posted on September 14th, 2014 under Japan. Tags: book review. Comments Off on Samurai Revolution