Monthly Archives: October 2011

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 →

I haven’t had time to scan in more photos, but I found a few that I had missed.  I think — but I’m not sure — that these are from my first evening in Sapporo during the snow festival, i.e., … Continue reading →

I think I made a mistake when I decided not to resize the scans from my Japan negatives.  The limit for WordPress is about two megabytes per photo, but that’s not a practical size.  My negative/slide scanner saves files of just over one … Continue reading →

  Say “Cheese!” I got REEELLLY frustrated with WordPress yesterday.  This new version is ten times buggier than the last, and I had to reload at least three photos and re-do a lot of text.  It does some really crazy … Continue reading →

The indigenous peoples of Japan are the Ainu Indians.  They were pushed off the main island of Honshu and isolated in the northern island of Hokkaido in their own version of the Trail of Tears (OK, I’m using a little … Continue reading →

In case you’re not familiar with the term “benjo ditch,” it is a shallow, gently-sloping ditch that funnels water and human waste from the cities in Japan out to the fields for use as fertilizer.  These ditches line the roads … Continue reading →

Well, these really were the last — they just happen to be some of the best close-ups.  I ran between the hauling ropes to get right up in the celebrants’ faces.     Another angle This angle shows the on-board musicians … Continue reading →

We are getting close to the end of the Misawa City Festival Parade of 1988; we just have a few more photos to go.  After that, we’ll be moving on to more skiing pics and some interesting shots of the … Continue reading →

Sore wa nan da?  E–to–ano kichigai ryuu dayo! This float was worth a few more views.  That’s some dragon, huh? Just in case you’re unfamiliar with sakura, it means “cherry blossom.” Chochin are Japanese paper lanterns.  The girls with the “headlamps” … Continue reading →