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Bright Lights And Big Bangs
After Mum departs, I head out to watch more fireworks.
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X-Position Expose
An outing to the Japanese Expo, taking in some of the major pavilions.
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Big Babies
A gaijin day out to the Nagoya Sumo Tournament, where we see large men with better acceleration than me slap each other silly.
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Not Dead
An interruption of service to the Internet necessitates some explanation.
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Meeting With The Mob
In which we meet a gentle old man in a park who turns out to be a retired mafioso.
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Evangelism And Equestrianism
Another religious encounter, though again a lack of hard-sell. And the strangest pamphlet ever.
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Great Balls Of Fire
Cormorant fishing is a tradition in Gifu, so a bunch of Gaijin headed out to see what it was like.
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Italian Whine (And Port)
Nagoya Port and Italia Mura, a mildly amusing diversion for the day.
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Floats And Stalls
As festival season draws to a close, I take a look at the largest and most local one, Ogaki, right outside my branch.
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Moveable Priests
Festival time again in Japan and we head out to see a local town festival.
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Flower Power
A flower festival in Gifu, with the simultaneously least blue and most blue blue rose I’ve ever seen.
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Not Addicted
A misspent day, spent misspending hard earned coins on pointless gaming. Fun though.
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Flight Plan
The opening of a new airport has created a new tourist destination for the locals.
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Nothing To Sneeze At
Another national holiday for the Japanese, which they use to purchase handkerchiefs to cope with their allergies.
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Passive Aggressive Nihilism
Being nice to your employees is not a requisite characteristic in a Japanese manager.
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Festival Fever
Another town festival, this one in Ibigawa.
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Penned Name
I try my hand at calligraphy and find it far too unsteady to write even my own name!
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Every Day The 14th
Valentine’s Day in Japan is an all-male affair, with women expected to buy their partners expensive gifts. Reciprocity comes later.
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The Return Of The Pedal Bike
My bike miraculously makes its way back to me courtesy of some over-zealous police work.
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An Officer Calls
My bike is found! Now I just have to get it back…
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Ridiculous Japanese Gameshows
Gameshows here scrape the barrel for ideas, but somehow are still riotously entertaining.
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Light Brigade
In which we solve an age old mystery, for values of X where X is Japanese People.
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Akemashita Omedetou
New Year in Japan is celebrated more widely than Christmas. I step outside and see what people are up to.
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The Deer Island God
An excursion from Hiroshima takes us to Miyajima, a holy island just off the coast.
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How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Hiroshima, a city that can’t escape its association with the past, but which doesn’t play the victim and is determined to use its history as a parable for the world.
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Merry Christmas!
Christmas in Japan just doesn’t compare to the UK.
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Brand Identity
Japan takes the concepts of brands to an extreme, with Louis Vitton the unofficial uniform of the middle-class.
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Not A Lot Like Sodom Or Gomorrah
Embarking into town to buy Christmas presents, I stumble upon a disturbing scene.
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Ninja And Waterfalls
The purpose of a ninja is to flip out and kill people. The purpose of this day trip was to find them.
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Japanese Smileys
Even Japanese smileys are different from western ones.
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Shichi Go San
A traditional day in Japan where children dress in traditional clothes and do traditional things like eating sweets.
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Bonsai Festival
A bonsai festival marks the arrival of spooky music in the park next door.
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Drama Queens
In which I get to attend a Kabuki performance for Free 99.
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Little World
A little excursion to a little world. Like a small version of Disney’s Epcot, Little World bills itself as an “Anthropological Museum of Man” and is quite fun.
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Many Happy Returns
Another happy occasion/cynical cash grabbing opportunity today, as both Hello Kitty and Godzilla reach important milestones.
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The Price Of Learning
Education is expensive enough at home, but in Japan it’s taken to extremes.
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Dragons Win
My local team win the baseball, affecting me in unexpected ways.
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Show Me The Money
Paying for things is ridiculously hard. Japan has the reputation for being hyper efficient in manufacturing. If only they could apply the same expertise to finance.
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The End Of Summer
An explanation of why workmen are never working, and a close to Japanese summer.
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Holiday Allowance
I couldn’t live without holidays, but it seems that Japanese businesses can’t live with them.
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Obon
The Japanese Obon festival is dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors.
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Pachinko
Gambling is illegal in Japan, except where it isn’t. Which is everywhere you can find a Pachinko parlour. Which is everywhere.
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Fire Flowers
With my reading comprehension the way it is, there’s no wonder I didn’t realise that Hanabi literally meant Fireworks.
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Hanabi
The first fireworks festival I’ve seen in Japan puts most English ones to shame.
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Bunch Of Tea Leaves
Just as I was getting to grips with my bike, it’s been nicked. Curses.
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Tentacle Porn
Not all cartoons are for kids. And not all cartoons that are not for kids are like The Simpsons.
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Sushi And Studying
A day trip with Kaori including the library and sushi.
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Umbrellas
Umbrellas are the must-have accessory in the rainy season. Just as long as you don’t take them out in the rain and ruin them.
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Cyclists, Bloody Cyclists
Cyclists are annoying, and in Japan they are legally obliged to use the pavement, not the road.
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Identity Theft
Your signature is no good here. No, we demand you use a rubber stamp to prove your identity!
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Howdy!
Technology and travel stories from a global roaming, kangaroo loving, sake drinking gaijin pom.
Check out my projects and my resume, take a look at some code on Github and feel free to contact me.