I had lunch!

Not a normal lunch however. I had lunch! One of Yuko's old customers won a heap of money betting on horses and gave some to Yuko and her sister with instructions to go out for a good lunch. Well we had a good lunch. A really good lunch.

And dessert.

Ah! A snake!

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako

Coming into work yesterday morning check out what I found sunning its green body where I like to park my bike. A cute green snake. First one I’ve seen in Japan.

Kansai Onsen Review is up!

I finally set it all up, the blog I've been working on to the neglect of this one. Kansai Onsen Review is a blog where I will post reviews, explanations, history, culture and anything else that's related to bathing and hot springs.

All of my additional information about how to take a bath and stuff like that is still in the works but my reviews have started. Three reviews are up now with more to come. I've been to at least 50 around Kansai so there's a backlog of them to get posted. I'm still working on going back to the ones which I haven't taken decent photos of also.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!

http://kansaionsen.blogspot.com/

p.s. I'll keep updating this blog with random other non onsen related junk just like always too!

Public housing options in Japan

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Where can you find land to build public housing? Next to the cemetery.

I think these blocks were built in the 70's well before the it became the affluent area it is now.

The pedals have fallen in Nishinomiya

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

The hanami season is over and the sakura (cherry blossoms) have begun to fall into the rivers turning them pink. I enjoy this time even more than the hight hanami season because it's more symbolic of the sakura's fleeting life. Their beauty in death is more beautiful than it was when they were in their prime. I posted a set of photos taken last week along the Shukugawa river in Nishinomiya to my flickr. Please enjoy them.

It's election time!

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

How elections work in Japan... loudspeaker cars, and poster walls.

Here we have a speech given from the roof of a campaign bus in front of Akashi station. Below we see a wall in a residential area with designated spaces for the various candidates.

No Parking! YAY!

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Here the coach for the Hanshin Tigers, along with the wife of the "new foreign pitcher" remind everyone that there is no parking at Koshien Stadium. I'll be sure to remember that now that she's informed me.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Don't move the freeway, put a hole the building

This might be my favorite building in Osaka. I wonder how it was built. Was the freeway ramp active while they built the building? I've never seen anyone go in or out of this building and it looks under used... I'm not surprised.

恵美寿湯の散歩

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Even more photos. These from a few weeks ago when I went to Akashi to get my being the process of getting my Japanese drivers license. Well, I was denied because I didn’t have the correct paper work, opps. Still working on that. Anyhow, I used the opportunity to hit up another onsen down in that part of Hyogo as going there on a whim is prohibitively expensive. The place I found was Ebisu onsen in a neighborhood of factories, old housing projects, and new single family houses. There were many things about the Japanese landscape that stood out to me on this walk. I’ll point out a few. The onsen was one of the most amazing I’ve been to. The outdoor bath was mineral rich and completely amazing. The owner even gave me a free bathtowel when I told her about my hobby of going to onsen and collecting the towels. I’ll be going back there eventually.

恵美寿湯　湧昇の湯

兵庫県明石市貴崎４−６−１２
www.geocities.jp/syoujinobuo/ebisuyu.html
www.ne.jp/asahi/world/hopper/onsen/hyogo/ebisu/ebisu.htm


The houses next to the factory place laundry poles and potted plants next to the wall making use of the space and breaking up the monotony of a solid wall.


Many houses have a few potted plants out front, this family has one of the largest, if not the largest, collection of plants I've seen in front of one house.


The garbage behind some sort of machinist workshop.

What is, never could be, and will be.

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

The existing landscape is blocked by a construction barrier depicting an idealized landscape that never could never exist there, and the plans to turn it into a new constructed landscape devoid of those trees.

Gualariva's Hanami Party

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Hanami season is here! And like last year I plan on enjoying it as much as possible so why not start it off with a bang? I joined the Gualariva regulars and a few new people for an adult hanami, we had catered French food, a selection of fine wine, and a portable classic record player... Plus a little rain. I’ve posted a set of photos on my Flickr which you can check out here. Besides the food, which was to die for, it was great when all the old grandmothers came buy to check out the record player.

The record player


After the eating and drinking was done

A day of great food!

A old teacher from my school is in town so we went to a buffet then sang some karaoke. So I thought I'd show you all what a Japanese organic/natural food buffet menu looks like.
http://www.roan.cc/news.htm
It was super super good...

Dinner was great but so was lunch. I ate this
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Pork katsu served at a restaurant attached to a sake brewer's museum. Super good sake too.

Collect These...

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

...and win beer!

Most drink companies have these sticker/postcard based campaigns for winning free beer, electronics, travel, toys... I always thought that no matter how many I sent in I'd never win anything, But last Friday night I found a notice from the delivery guy, I had a package. So on Saturday I called the driver and had him deliver it to my job. I won two bottles of special Kirin beer. It seems a bit more foamy and sour than typical Kirin, more Belgium-beer-like. I like it. Not to mention it was FREE!

Golfin' and Bathin'

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Last Sunday the weather was great and I made my way out to Arimafuji Onsen about 20-30 min or so by bus from my house. Arimafuji Onsen is quite unique as it’s a combination supersento and golf practice range--one of the two story wacky Japanese kind. While I haven’t played golf for years, I decided to check it out. As a teenager my father got me into golf, which I enjoyed, but I hated the rampant racism, misogyny, and typical upper middle class mindset exposed by the players--including my father. So, I soon left the sport go when I graduated college. That said, I had a great time whacking balls with a rented 3 iron. Funny thing however, to get my balls I had to by a card from a ticket machine in the lobby, but to rent my club I had to pay the lady at the counter. After getting my gear I walked to my spot, second story at the far end. I don’t know wether the lady placed me there because I’m a gaijin or because I’m left handed... Either way, I liked spot. The first few balls totally sucked, but near the end of the bucket I got my groove back on. I even sliced two over the fence! HAHA! Oh yea, the onsen attached, while small, had a great outdoor bath that on that cool sunlit late winter afternoon really felt great!

Arimafuji Onsen Hanayama no yu
有馬富士温泉　花山乃湯

www.hanayamanoyu.com
兵庫県三田市尼寺835-1




I hit two over that left fence.


The ball vending machine

Emergency Exit Shadows

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

非常口 means emergency exit in Japanese, so if you ever need to escape, that's the place.

Taken on the 神姫バス (Shinki Bus) in 三田 (Sanda).

Baby Gloomy!

Photo 60
Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Finally won something big from a UFO catcher!

Onsen! Onsen! Onsen!

Sorry, I haven’t been posting very often recently because I’ve been working on a new website/blog about Japanese hotsprings and bathhouses (onsen and sento). During my 1 and a half years here in Japan I’ve been to 55 or so different onsen, mostly here in the Kansai area. Recently I’ve been taking my camera to get a collection of outside photos and collecting addresses for my listing and reviews. Plus I’m writing up sections on the do’s and don’ts, how-to’s, and other advice. Hopefully I’ll have it online sometime soon. Here’s some photos a few of the onsen I’ve recently been to and a link to my Onsen set on flickr.

ゆうゆうらんど紀の国
Yuyurando Kinokuni


萬歳湯
Manzaiyu


双葉温泉
Futaba Onsen

Trash ゴミ

My second theme to take photos on will be trash.
Here's some interesting trash I found on a bike ride the other day. Appears to be a VCR and some sort of laser gun.

Slide and Stair

Digital photography has made my photos too erratic. It's time to start working on a theme. Following what I use to do in the desert I've decided to focus on Japan's rusted infrastructure. Here are two recent photos from the Koyoen area of Nishinomiya.

Dont you love me?

A great ad. Come to think of it, my pens are running out of ink. Via Lost in Ube

FOUND! More Marine Catchers!

I found some more marine catchers this time at an omiyage shop in Nagasaki-ken. All had iseebi, a type of Japanese lobster, in them just like the one in Osaka.

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

A 100cm tall ¥4700 parfait

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

I saw this $47 100cm tall parfait for sale at a cafe in Nagasaki's main shopping street. Its called ワールドターワ (World Tower)

Boss Commericals

Japan Probe posted a clip of the most recent Tommy Lee Jones Boss Coffee ad here in Japan. The whole series has been great as it inserts him into various tedious jobs such as a karaoke bar waiter. This most recent one is even better as Tommy plays a space alien working in a host bar. (A bar where girls pay to talk to cute guys while they eat and drink.) Check out the video here.

Kii Peninsula Road Trip / 紀伊半島運転旅行

IMG 9603 Sakinoyu

Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

I rented a car. Drove 700km in 29 hours. It was great! I took a route through Osaka to Shirahama for the first day. That night I couldn’t find any hotel, business, love or otherwise so I slept in my car across the street from a konbini. That morning I went to Saki no yu (崎の湯) a great rotenbro (open air bath) that is built into some tide-pools. Amazing. Going at 8 am made the experience better. The cold air and the hot mineral laden water was better than coffee. The view was great. The whole town was very old and was atypical of the aging Japanese resort town archetype with once vibrant paints faded by the sun and half covered by overgrowth plus an ample amount of rust.

Next I tried to go to Hongu onsen (本宮温泉) up in the mountans. This location is famous for Kawayu (川湯) a river that during the summer you can dig your own bath out of the river bank, and during the winter the city digs out the worlds largest rotenbro. Sadly they were in the process of digging out that rotenbro when I got there, so I drove a little north to another onsen Tsuboyu (つぼ湯). It was a great sulfur rich spring. They had a private bath in the river that the spring fed into but it was booked so I took a bath in the public sento.


Kawayu


Tsuboyu

After that I tried to drive to the famous Ise Shrine, while I made it there fine and drove through some beautiful countryside to get there the shrine was closing just as I walked up to the entrance way.

After a pitch black mildly tiring drive down a crowded highway I was able to get on the free way and shoot back to Sanda.

Here’s the link to the few photos I took on this trip, my camera broke during the trip. Today, however, I took it to the Canon Service Center in Osaka who determined that it was the lens that was broken and they will fix it for free, along with they they cleaned the camera for free. Thank you Canon!

US Beef Advertisement

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

The US beef lobby is busting out a large campaign here in Japan. Since the BSE related ban on US beef Australian producers have moved in big time. Weather or not the US producers can regain their market dominance is questionable. This ad in the Hankyu train is one example.

Sanda's Fire Department

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

In towntown Sanda these are used instead of fire trucks, which makes sense given how small some of the streets are in this part of the town.

My Virtual Soccer Playing Doppelganger

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Kim and Niyan made me into a soccer player for their team--Nishinomiya Reds--on Winning eleven. It looks pretty close doesn’t it.

Japanese Household Item Domino Race

Two teams headed by female celebrities had to run through a neighborhood to collect as much junk as they could and then build a giant domino race. Getting the stuff was great, they found guitars, porno videos, giant stuffed animals, huge beds, bowling balls--one of the women found a book of photos of her from long ago. After accumulating all this they built up a giant domino race. The winner is the team who’s race goes the farthest. Sorry about the quality, recorded this on my cellphone.

Part 1



Part 2

SNOW!

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Sanda's first snow floats softly to the ground to the backdrop of the computer store and sign for the used porn DVD shop.

Snowstorm

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Originally uploaded by ashleyniblock.

Check out this photo of the Denver photo taken from above by a flickr member. WOW!

Strange thing about being in Japan some things... such as this blizzard... are completely off my radar. I didn't know about this until checking the BBC this morning.

Anyhow, crazy photo.

Coffee, Tea, or Massage Oil?

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Found near my friend's bar in Nishinomiya this 100円 ($1) discount vending machine has energy drinks and a 1000円 ($10) bottle of massage oil. Now this is machine isn't anywhere near anything or anyone who could possibly be serviced by easily accessible massage oil. Go figure.

If you want to find it it's right here on the south east corner.

Christmas Chicken

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Originally uploaded by sleepytako.

In Japan Christmas means fried chicken, and fried chicken means KFC. Go figure. Here's a photo of the line outside of the Okamoto KFC on Christmas Eve.