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.”
Chindonya (Japanese marching band) are sometimes outside of the Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo. I haven’t seen them do much marching, but they do make a lot of music. They advertise the opening of new Pachinko Parlors. They may look a little bored in the photo above, but when they are noticed (and I’m sure they are with great regularity), they can be as happy as the people who do the noticing.
The video below is not one I took, but it will give you an idea of what they sound like.
President Obama visited the Kamakura Daibutsu yesterday. He didn’t see the blue sky or shadows caused by the sun on the Buddha’s face (like I did above), but the Buddha looks great in any season or weather.
Posted on November 15th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, kamakura, video. Comments Off on Obama was here – Giant Buddha Kamakura Daibutsu
I didn’t know which blog this would be most fitting to post on so I’m posting it, with different photos, both here and on my Ashland Daily Photo blog.
This past Sunday, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was having its “Culture Fest.” At noon a matinée Green Show featured Mitsuki Dazai on the Japanese koto. Ms. Dazai was lots of fun between songs, telling stories and enchanting the crowd.
Here she is performing Shaei (斜影 or “Diagonal Shadows”) by Hikaru Sawai (沢井 比河流). Sawai was in a heavy metal band before writing this piece for the koto.
Posted on October 5th, 2010 under Japan, Oregon. Tags: people, video. Comments Off on Heavy Metal Koto
My fifth Japanese baseball stadium to watch a game in was the Tokyo Dome. Ellie and I went to see the Tokyo Giants vs. the Chunichi Dragons. The Tigers had just taken over first place, and the Dragons were only a half game behind the Giants in third place so this game had some serious implications. Therefore, the Dragons cheering section in the outfield was sold out. We were stuck with some nose bleed seats on the third base side which meant no aerobics* for us, but we could still cheer against the Giants without standing out too much. Probably about 70% of our section were for the Dragons.
Ogasawara is shown above hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was bitter sweet as it meant the Giants took the lead, but it also meant that we were one Dragons’ home run away from winning free Big Macs.
My TZ10 in “sports mode” did OK considering the artificial lighting and the fact that we were about 12 miles from home plate.
* Japanese baseball fan aerobics… here is a demonstration provided later on the same evening by the aforementioned Dragons cheering section
