Life in Japan - Pictures galore !! Arcades, Temples, Rainy days, etc

Ogura Yuko dressed up as Cutey Honey I think.

... mmm, need to get out more

 

More pictures time. Well, 1 picture. I thought I'd show you the size of the road just up the road from where I live. I use this road once a week and believe it or not it's NOT a 1 one way road. Some people drive as fast as 50kmph (31mph) up and down here including me. It's no wonder I'm a whizz at racing games :lol:


By the way I stopped the car to take this picture. Next time I'll take a video or picturs at least of the Initial D type road which is very exciting to drive on at night !! Great fun I tell you but also a bit on the scarry side !

Yakumo

 

It's almost like a real-life shot of Sakuragaoka or Yamanose from Shenmue 1!

 

Yesterday was beautiful (today its raining again just like Thursday) so on the way to the office after lunch I took a few pictures.

Here's an odd shot. Perfectly clear blue sky with the past meeting the future. The big building in the background is a whopping shopping center. You'll notice that the ground is also perfectly clean. This is something else that I love about Japan. No fear of standing in dog shit unlike the UK.


This is the entrance to the castle's gardens. I'll be taking some pictures in there soon once the cherry blossoms bloom. I'll use a real camera then, not my phone.


Here's Kokura Castle from another angle.


Dydo just installed this machine next to the beer machine 1 minute from my house. As if I didn't have enough temptations already.


Yakumo

 

I've seen some of these places in Japan in person before, but it's still exciting to view them once more. Great pics.

 

Yakumo -- do you drive everywhere? Well... to work, mainly? What do you do if you want to get lit after work?

 

I never drive to work unless I have to go in at the weekend. Main 3 reasons are that A - I'm too sleepy in the morning, B - Takes too bloody long due to traffic and C - The company only give me 15'000 yen per month travelling expenses. So I just take the train since it's faster which means more time in bed plus I can sleep on the train unlike those packed tubes of human sardines in Tokyo. I drive everywhere else apart from work since down here the traffic is pretty much normal.

Yakumo

 

Thanks, I love the updates!

What strange Kit Kat and Mentos packs those are...

 

If you think they are strange you should see all the different type of Kikkat there are. Just off the top of my head there are

Standard
White
Dark
Strawberry
Pineapple
Green Tea
Coffee
and a few others. THey come in different shapes and sizes as well. YOu see, if the Japanese don't have a good choice then the item will fail or at least that's how it seems.

Yakumo

 

Today I have to pass thorough this rundown looking area that I’ve never been through before. The place was a right dump which just goes to show that Japan isn’t all high-tech like many of us think. Many paths are just mud and the home seem to be made from corrugated steel!! Just take a look at some of these shots.






This set of apartments still has living tenants even though it seems to be abandoned. Below there are a few cars that must have been there for years judging from the amount of dust and crap over them. You can just about make out a red car behind the shutter.



Best sight though was this sign that reads – “Unchi wa mochikaette shobunshite kudsaiâ€￾, which basically means “Please clean up the shit and take it homeâ€￾ :lol: It actually sounds quite funny in English but not so in Japanese.



Yakumo

 

I'd run away from a 7-foot-tall pile of shit, too.

 

Is that Japanese graffiti I see over there? ;-)

They should have that sign in many places over here. In fact, there was a similar sign a friend of mine came across in downtown Atlanta (with stick figures); a stick man with a stick dog on a lease and dog poo next to it. No text though, but pretty funny to see :lol:! I wish I had the pic from his camera phone.

Thanks for those shots!

 

It was a nice day today so I decided to go for a drive to Tsunoshima Island which is about 40 to 50 minutes drive from where I live. Tsunoshima until about 10 years ago wasn't connected to main land Japan so the inhabitants had to take a boat to the main land but now there's an ultra modern bridge that connects Tsunoshima to the main land. This bridge is a wonderful place to stop (has a parking spot on it) for some beautiful views. Anyway, the island its self has been the setting for many Japanese movies.

in the distance you can see a church that was built last year for a movie.


Closer up you can notice that it's just a set since the inside is empty plus the glass in the windows is really cheap stuff ! Still, it does look nice.


The sea water here is beautiful ! Pure clear !


But unfortunately a lot of shit comes over on the tide from Korea !! On the beach you can find loads of Korean rubbish.


This gate is said to please the Gods if you can throw a stone on to the top of it. I think I pissed off the Gods though because I ended up knocking about 5 or so stones off :lol:


Here's something you don't see everyday ! A load of dried squid spinning like hell ! Sorry for the crappy image but my phone isn't too hot at taking fast moving shots.


I took a few videos too but they are upside down when viewed on a PC. Someone once said that they had a version of Virtual Dub that accepted AFS files. I'd love to get hold of that. Then I could convert the videos from AFS to AVI.

Yakumo

 

Just came back from a pound shop and got some mentos boxes of lime lemon from Japan...

Abit of a weird find i though.

 

Another beautiful day and another lunch in the park. The sakura is now in bloom so here's a few pictures from today's lunch.





yakumo

 

the nature seems so beutiful over there
I really hope I can visit japan one day..

 

save a bit of cash and you will be able to. It's not that expensive really. You just have to save a bit.

Yakumo

 

yeah I know.. it's just that it's so much work here right now
but one of these days... bang! Zoom! Straight to the mo... eh japan

 

just read about the "Kanamara Festival" in a swedish newspaper, and I was all like wtf?!

anyone ever been on this? it sounded kind of.. strange. ^^

 

What's the Kanamara Festival? Never heard of that one.

Yakumo