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Ikki Sawamura playing Takeda Shingen in Kofu in 2010
At last year’s 信玄公祭 the famous actor Ikki Sawamura played the role of Takeda Shingen. I say famous, but I had never heard of him before. Gathering from the crowd reaction, though, I think he is rather well known by the Japanese.
Amsterdam Cycle Chic
Vondelpark in Amsterdam is a great place to ride a bike (or people watch if you don’t have a bike). These ladies rented bikes to enjoy the park.
During late June, students graduate from gymnasium (high school), get in these farm trucks, put on sailor-type hats, grab their favorite noise makers (whistles, horns, etc.), get extremely drunk, and drive around Copenhagen (and all of Scandinavia I hear) making as much noise as possible. Pretty much any time of day or night the sounds from these trucks can be heard. The loud parties only last for a few days, but the sailor hats will remain on the new graduates throughout the summer. They wear them with pride.
People honk at the trucks and pedestrians cheer as they pass by making the scene an even louder one.
I have heard that they stop at each of the student’s homes to get food and more booze, but I haven’t actually seen the trucks stop anywhere.
I have mentioned this famous face before. I read I Am A Cat and visited Natsume Soseki’s grave. Of course, the reason why his face is famous isn’t for either of these reasons. No, the reason why he probably looks familiar to you, even if his name doesn’t ring a bell, is that he was on the 1,000 yen note until recently.
The statue of him, pictured above, can be found in Shinjuku Ku, near the Waseda Station on the Tozai Subway Line.
漱石山房の記憶
I was just taking a walk one day when I came across these sign boards showing a Natsume Soseki walk that can be taken near Waseda University so I did the walk. Along the way you can see many places relevant to Natsume Soseki and his works. Some of the streets, temples, and stores appear in his works since he lived in this area. Actually he was born and died here.
漱石の散歩道 – Soseki Walking Route
This guy did his thing just outside Arakawa Amusement Park (あらかわ遊園) in Tokyo. The kids seemed to love him, as did some of the parents. He reminded me of a manga character.
After watching a Seibu Lions game last year we were able to go down on the field with many other fans. Not only were we on the field but we were on the big screen as well. Ryan was rather excited (can you spot him?). Ellie, on the other hand, had been on big screens so many times (thanks to her blonde hair) by this point in Japan that I think she was doing more to get off the screen than remain in the public eye.