Akihabara at Night
I love the crazy bustle ambiance, in small doces. For those of you at home, go check out “Lost in Translation” to get a sense of Tokyo nighttime urban scenery. I think it’s available for streaming on Hulu.
Rice Field: Harvested
That same rice field that sprouted was harvested within the last day or so. Sort of fitting, since today is my last day at the home.
Shamisen Performance
Went to a festival this weekend to see one of the workers at the home play the shamisen, that kind of plucky sounding traditional Japanesr guitar shaped instrument. She’s the one on the right in the brown.
I can’t say I’m totally in love with this kind of music, but variety is always good.
Guy Sleeping on a Train
On my way to the temple at Nikko last week, I snapped this picture of a guy passed out on the train. Notice that he even took his shoes off. In the US, the newspaper blanket would immediately flag this guy as a bum, but his dress reveals that he is probably just another member of the overworked Japanese labor force.
The Three Wise Monkeys
Everybody knows “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” right? Well today in Nikko, Japan, I visited a famous temple with this carving of said monkeys. If you look closely, you can see, in fact, that there are the three monkeys.
According to the Wikipedia, this carving (17th century) helped to popularize the image/folktale of the three wise monkeys.
Rice Fields: Follow-up
I noticed about two days ago that all the nearby rice fields started growing stuff. Sprouting grains? Flowering? Plant terminology is definitely not my forté, but I do know that starting in September/October, the locals start to harvest the rice.
Checklist
So I’ve been in Japan for slightly more than 7 weeks now, and I realize that Japan is not so different from Davis, CA. To prove this point, here’s a checklist:
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Bicycles
In Japan, bicycles are the kids’ main method of transportation. In Davis, we use bikes as well. -
Spazzy Weather
Common Japanese weather pattern: sun, rain, sun, clouds, humidity (sometimes earthquakes too). Davis can be the same, except the humidity and the earthquakes. -
Asian People
Japan: this is an Asian country, duh.
Davis: it’s a UC, duh. In the UC system, Asians are practically the majority. -
Farmland
At least where I’m staying in Japan, there is plenty of farmland in the form of rice fields. In Davis, the city is surrounded by farmland, and I think that the I-80 causeway goes over rice fields too.
So I guess it’s only four points, but I just wanted to show that basically Davis and Japan have some things in common.
Fireworks
Fireworks are cheap, legal, and easy to find in Japan. And the kiddies love ‘em.
John Lennon Museum
Yesterday I took a trip to the John Lennon Museum in Saitama Shin-toshin. They had some cool stuff, costumes, clothes, original notes for a few songs (including a hotel napkin with the lyrics to Imagine). Since the museum was founded with with permission from Yoko Ono, there are plenty of mentions of her in various captions as well.
