Category Archives: Japan

Okay, perhaps this isn’t Tokyo Chinatown. Could be in Yokohama; could be Ikebukuro. I can’t be sure. But it’s from roll eighteen which contains some interesting fake-food displays from restaurant windows. Hungry yet? If that one didn’t get your juices … Continue reading →

I’ll never forget these two guys who were out to do me a good deed that day.  In Buddhism, salvation (Nirvana) is claimed to be achieved via one’s good works.  These fellows found an excellent opportunity in this foolish American … Continue reading →

Nov. 13, 2011–Further corrections: Gomen nasai.  Watakushi wa machigatta, ne.  Very sorry, but I’ve really been confused, and my memory has failed me.  Realize, though, that all this happened over 22 years ago.  The sign in the photo is not for … Continue reading →

 Actually, the sign says, “Ginza Yamato.”  I’m having trouble finding anything that connects the famous Ginza district with “Yamato,” and I don’t feel like digging out my kanji jibiki (Japanese dictionary) to find out which of any number of homonym … Continue reading →

Here’s some photos of the countryside, old temples, houses, and a mill with a water wheel, all sights I saw on a road trip I took — one I have absolutely no memory of.           No … Continue reading →

We’re winding down to the end of the 40th Sapporo Yuki Matsuri.  I’ll be showing you only a couple of ice sculptures in this posting, but we’ll also take a look at some of the other scenes Sapporo has to … Continue reading →

It’s going to take a few more days to show you the rest of my trip to the Sapporo Snow Festival, so let’s get started.  Here are today’s installments.  The first is a close-up of a sculpture that was in … Continue reading →

The sign says, “Baby kyonshii,” but you’d be hard put to find it spelled with two i‘s in any Internet search.  Actually, on the sign it’s more like “BEBII KYONSHII.” A kyonshi, or jiang shi, in Chinese, is a zombie that … Continue reading →

It was an unusually warm winter in Sapporo, and you can see from these photos that the ice sculptures were melting fast. This time I’m not going to comment on the sculptures, so enjoy!             

Susukino district in Sapporo at night No snow here, but plenty of activity.  This used to be (?) the red light district.   Appealing to your thirst Almost every display here has to do with something to drink, and CocaCola … Continue reading →