月別アーカイブ: 2010年8月

Random photos

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I was going through my phone, deleting pictures I didn’t need anymore, and I came across some that I thought would be neat to share. Things I just snapped on a whim. You can find top-notch photography of Japan almost anywhere, I’m just trying to give a glimpse of how down-to-earth life can be here… in the best meaning possible. 🙂

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This is Kinkakuji, in Kyoto… the Golden Pavilion. I still can’t believe I took this on a cell phone! This was from my first trip to Kyoto, with two very good college friends. All three of us ended up getting similar jobs after graduation, but those two have already returned home, leaving me alone! Tragic.

My college days were spent reading histories of Japan, and a professor who was particularly interested in architecture indirectly taught me how to appreciate these places.

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And on the opposite, modern end of the Japanese spectrum… I found a Super Scope in the trash. Then again, most might argue that this is the best place for it…

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This is a picture from Christmas time, at Roppongi Midtown. They had this neat sort of light show thing set up, and I love, love, love the blue lights used during Christmas.

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This was during hanami, or the time in May, when the cherry trees bloom. Near my house is a river, and the shops lining the river bust out the food and drink stands. This was on top of a restaurant? I think? Or some shop. I guess the shop dog was just chillin’ up there.

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A month or so ago, I heard phantom drumming near my house. After following the sound and some children in yukata excitedly cheering about all the junk food they’d get to eat, I found myself at this festival! Lotsa dancin’ and good eats. Festivals rock.

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And just this weekend. For some reason, Sunflowers are growing in a lot behind a nearby restaurant. I thought, oh, how nice, and then I saw these GIANT BEES.

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I love Roger Dean’s art. I love his covers for Yes. I love Yes. I love transcendental ’70s “Roundabout” Yes, with the 20-minute songs with tons of tenor harmonies and guitar and keyboard solo tradeoffs; I love commercial ’80s “Owner of a Lonely Heart” Yes, and all the underrated cheese and surprising rock they bring. I want this book so bad.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with Japan whatsoever, other than the fact that it is a version published in Japan, in Japanese, and I am standing in a Japanese bookstore.

I’ll go through my camera’s older memory cards next!!

James

Tokyo? No Problem

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I recently got wind of an up-coming book called “Tokyo? No Problem”, which is geared toward people wanting to try their hand in Japan.

After having been here for awhile, you start to get lots of questions from people wanting to experience it too. Some of their questions seem unanswerable, some seem like they’d take pages upon pages of emails to answer, and some are flawed from their very premise. I have a hard time trying to figure out how to help my fellow adventurers out, and it helps me understand why there weren’t many people available to help me out when I was coming over here.

tokyonoproblemcover s.jpgThe book is called Tokyo? No Problem and while it will be available on Amazon, there is already a good bit of introductory information up for browsing, which will help to narrow down your search through the table of contents to find the section addressing your particular needs.

Not only that, but the information on the website is additional and complementary to the book, which means great, free info!

The The book is geared for people who are planning to be in Japan for the
long haul as well as those on a working holiday visa or visiting
students. Lots of people end up wanting to stay and still have so much they want to learn. This book should help out.

And it’s nice that the book encourages you to learn not just enough Japanese phrases to get by, but a basic start on reading too, which should serve as an encouragement to anyone under the false impression that Japanese is too hard!

The author, Teresa Ramsay, is open to hearing your own information, comments, and questions, so be sure to visit the website for more information. I’ll let you know here too when it becomes available.

Summer Sonic

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I just got back from a huge music festival held in Japan every summer, called Summer Sonic. It’s two days in Osaka and Tokyo, with several stages and tons of huge acts.

This year I went because of my other job, but it was still really cool. This year the big headliner was Stevie Wonder, who was unfortunately playing at the same time as Dream Theater… I had a hard time deciding, but I went to see Dream Theater, who were incredible as usual. My coworkers told me Stevie was great!

It’s been going on since 2000, and looking at some of the posters from past events I wish I had known about it then!

There are lots of other huge festivals in Japan too, like Fuji Rock, held in the summer at a ski resort in Niigata; Rock in Japan, Loud Park, which features hard rock and metal acts, and various jazz, punk, etc festivals around the country.

If you’re not familiar with a lot of Japanese music, you can catch some pretty interesting acts. One of my favorites is a band called ‘te, which is an instrumental post-rock band with very long album and title names. Atmospheric yet energetic. Good stuff!

I’ll see if my coworkers took any good pictures and put them up!