Spotted at Amanohashidate....
Continue reading Boats by NASA!.
Recently in 2008.10 Japan Category
I only got two see one or two examples of Dekotora (think deco truck) while in Japan. None of them were all that great—this one, with its goofy rear-view-mirror-frames-gone-wrong was the only one really worth mentioning. I spotted it right outside the Toyota Automobile Museum in suburban Nagoya, and proceeded...
Continue reading Dekotora.
It's easier to get a sense of scale from the first post I wrote on the castle, but the engineering invovled is pretty remarkable stuff. Two huge vertical posts carry a substantial fraction of the weight of the structure, and the remaining load is distributed across a few hundred other...
Continue reading More Himeji castle.
Does Chevrolet actually build bikes? Spotted in Chiyoda (Tokyo) near the imperial palace....
Continue reading Question for Raven.
Here's a great idea: let's discuss American politics while waiting to get on a plane for 10 hours. Better yet, let's get into a heated argument about the qualifications of the candidates and their running mates. I have no idea who I will be sitting next to on this plane,...
Continue reading Gateside banter.
A few things that are difficult to find in Japan:vending machines that sell anything other than drinks or cigarettes anyone living on the street litter trash cans These last two items may seem complimentary, but I've seen how much stuff Japanese people buy, and I just can't imagine that they're...
Continue reading Notably absent.
I stayed in Capsule Inn Akihabara last night. The location was great (Chuo Dori! Yodobashi Camera!) but apart from that everything was substandard compared to Capsule Inn Hotel Osaka. If you want the capsule experience and will be in both Osaka and Tokyo during your trip to Japan, I recommend...
Continue reading Not all capsules are equal.
In Japan, I have to take my shoes off when I enter a home, but don't have to take them off when I enter the airport....
Continue reading Sacred places.
It's about 5:30am. I've been up since 2 or so, to prep for the jet lag. I've got another six hours in the city before I head to Narita to catch my flight at 3pm. Ten hours later I'll be back on the ground in Seattle; another hour or so...
Continue reading The long road home.
These days, it's difficult to get yourself into a situation where nobody around you speaks English. But even so, I find it's incredibly useful to be able to start conversations in the native tongue. It's less about actual communication and is more about being polite. The person on the other...
Continue reading Tip #2: Try to speak at least a little of the language.
Long-time readers of my blog have probably realized that I respect a well-designed elevator. So I'm pleased to be in Japan, since nearly all of the elevators out here are of amazing quality. They're almost all cable elevators (buildings are way too tall for hydraulics), the timing is swift, and...
Continue reading Japanese elevator technology is years ahead of ours.
Spotted at a park near the imperial palace. I get this feeling that the placard and the translation somehow got mismatched. All of the others were reasonably coherent. The text reads: Please be quiet in the park at night. which disturbs others....
Continue reading I said no midnight softball, dammit.
I was right. I woke up butt-ass early and waited around and did email until the subways started at 6am so I could go to the Tsukiji fish market to watch auctions and eat never-frozen fish. Standing on the platform waiting for the train, I got the warning signs of...
Continue reading Today was dumb.
Here's a travel tip for those of you who will be spending more than a day or two out of your home: bring along a trash bag for dirty clothes, a ziplock freezer bag for electronic miscellany, and a manila envelope for paperwork. Your sanity will thank you later. Additionally,...
Continue reading Tip #1: stay organized.
I've got a stupid day set up for tomorrow. In preparation for my flight on Sunday, I'll be waking up butt-ass early tomorrow (4am? maybe 5am) and will be checking out of my hotel. I'm going to drop my bag into a locker at some train depot and will be...
Continue reading Tomorrow will be dumb.
This is the 500-series Shinkansen train set, which is reportedly the fastest train in the whole lineup. I haven't (and won't) had a chance to ride on one of these, since they're reserved for Nozomi service, which my rail pass doesn't cover. I've spent a lot of time on the...
Continue reading Shinkansen sets.
Spotted on the surprisingly modern (and completely automated) Linimo line between Nagoya and the suburb where the Toyota Museum is located: Should you drop something on the track, please inform a station attendant through the interphone. I know exactly what word I'm using to refer to my VOIP phone from...
Continue reading Skype calling.
Spotted at the Toyota Automobile Museum: the Flying Feather, a microcar produced in the 1960s. It's built for lightness, as evidenced by the oversized bicycle-like spoke wheels. Between the dubs and the chopped roof, it's surprisingly modern in its stance. Hummer Microcar, anyone? Oh wait, no more Hummer....
Continue reading Flying Feather.
It's difficult to tell in this photo (sorry) but Mazda built and sold Mitsubishi-branded motorcycles for a brief period when first getting started. The reason? Mazda had no dealer network and relied on Mitsubishi showrooms to move product....
Continue reading Mazdatsubishi.
This is the Mazda 787B racecar, which won LeMans in 1991. It's the only rotary-powered car to ever win at LeMans, and that win got rotary engines promptly banned the following year. Even among rotaries it's notable: it has a four-rotor engine, which was once thought infeasible due to the...
Continue reading Fastest. Mazda. Ever..
One of the more interesting vehicles on display at the Mazda Museum was the Autozam AZ-1, a mid-engined turbocharged two-seater with gull-wing doors, produced by Mazda but branded under the then-new Autozam brand. Fascinating little car. It's like a Japanese DeLorean....
Continue reading Autozam AZ-1.
This is one of the more remarkable engines on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum. I believe it's in an early 20th-century Isotta Frachini car, and it's an inline four with two separate cylinder blocks. I couldn't tell if the crankcases were separate, too. In the background is a fantastic...
Continue reading "Inline" four?.
What next? P.S. This is actually a Toyota bus built for the 2005 Aichi World's Fair....
Continue reading Japanese bus technology is years ahead of ours.
Priority Seat is reserved for, from left to right:people who are wearing their belts too tightly fat people people carrying sacks of softballs anyone carrying a huge hypodermic needle Care Bears or the Grinch—but only if he has had post-Christmas heart inflammation...
Continue reading Priority Seat.
I got into an argument with my coworkers last week about the Toyota product line and where the Century fits in. Americans (and in fact, some Japanese) expect that the top models built by the Toyota corporation would be branded and sold as Lexus vehicles. And for the most part,...
Continue reading Toyota Century.
Yesterday I took a detour from my Kyoto —> Nagoya route to stop over in Himeji to see Himeji Jo (castle). Spectacular sight, and it's one of the best in Japan. Apparently it's one of the only castles left that still towers above the neighboring buildings. I actually went all...
Continue reading Himeji Jo.
I went to the Toyota Automobile Museum (TAM) earlier today. In contrast to the Mazda Museum, which is more Mazda than Museum, the TAM is more Automobile Museum than it is Toyota. They do have a good number of Toyota models, but much of the collection is comprised of other...
Continue reading Toyota Automobile Museum.
My experience from my trip to Europe in 2004 was that unlimited tourist rail passes (like the Eurail pass) are worth it if you're on a whirlwind tour and are making heavy use of the public transit system, but if you're only traveling between two or three cities you'll be...
Continue reading Magic train pass.
For some reason I'm in Nagoya tonight. I'm staying in a smoking room of a business hotel outside of the Kanayama station, and it's quite a bargain for providing a full non-capsule room (¥6800) although admittedly, the internet connection is way wonky and every 30 seconds refuses to allow me...
Continue reading Hello Nagoya.
You can't really get much better than this: sushi rolls and pocky, all ready to go for the Shinkansen ride to Nagoya. Nom....
Continue reading Japanese lunch on the go.
The first is this Lancia Delta race-car, parked in the middle of an almost-dead Geisha district. The second was the conversation I had with a VA pharmacist about how the US government has a difficult time retaining employees who jump ship to the private sector. Of the two, the Lancia...
Continue reading Two unexpected things in Kyoto.
Top-left: Mazda Biante display at the Mazda Museum Top-right: Whity, a big department store at Osaka Eki Bottom-right: Asse, another big department store (this one is at Kyoto Eki) Bottom-left: Goofy sign at a railroad crossing in Hiroshima...
Continue reading Four awesome photos from Japan.
It's incredibly difficult to tell in this photo, but the lady with the red hair and the green outfit directly in front of this guy is wearing a kimono and carrying an accordion....
Continue reading Spotted in an escalator in Kyoto.
I took the recommended English walking tour by Hajime Hirooka (Johnny Hillwalker, get it?) through the streets of Kyoto yesterday. Among many other things, we saw the world's largest wooden building, a Buddhist cemetery, an almost-defunct Geisha training/tea house, and a 150-year-old pastry shop. Great tour (and a great deal:...
Continue reading Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English with Johnny Hillwalker.
I end up having a lot of conversations that go something like this. Me: 今、温泉え行きたいです。そちらは部屋から温泉まで身ってください。 Japanese hotel staff: Sure! I can show you the way. Me: ありがとうございます。 Japanese hotel staff: I'll be over in just a second....
Continue reading ありがとう very much!.
That's right—I stayed in a capsule hotel (ｶッﾌﾟｽﾙﾎﾃﾙ) last night. Where to begin, really? I suppose I'll give a list of what the hell this experience was like.First and foremost, this particular hotel was damned difficult to find despite being in the middle of Osaka: I had to have two...
Continue reading Capsule Inn Hotel Osaka.
I took some video1 earlier of the crazy electronic music-box-style chimes used to signal when the train's conductor will be announcing something to the passengers. Apparently a simply bell would not suffice. Anyway, I took the Mazda Museum tour today and had a chance to watch the assembly floor as...
Continue reading Zoom-zoom-bing-bong-bong.
So I'm sitting in Hiroshima Eki waiting to catch the next Shinkansen to Himeji, and for the first time since I've been here, one of the trains is late. And not just local-commuter-train-is-5-minutes-behind-schedule late; on no, this is full-blown 16-car-Nozomi-bullet-train-is-parked-for-an-hour late. Given that most of the major lines only have...
Continue reading When it rains, it pours.
I'm in Hiroshima tonight. I bet many Americans would feel a little weird traveling to this city; I think I feel extra weird since I grew up in Los Alamos. But whatever—the people here seem to have gotten over the weirdness, so I can too. On a completely unrelated note,...
Continue reading Hiroshima.
Rob W. made an accurate observation about a not-quite-so-obvious fact: anyone in Japan performing any manner of physical work wears a hard hat. Once you know to look for the hard hats, you see them everywhere. Exhibit A is this particularly safety-concious farmer, who is riding some manner of tilling...
Continue reading Stop! Hard hat time.
This is 天橋立, a narrow strip of land stretched across a "bay" on the northern edge of Japan. This land is over a mile long but in places it's only a few hundred feet wide. I'm only about halfway across at this point—I actually only hiked about 2/3rds of it...
Continue reading Amanohashidate.
Top Engrish of trip so far! Apologies for the fuzzy photo. The text here reads: Changer Glory Model ER SeriesThe machine represents pleasant feeling with straightforward and bright pattern. Glory produces machines by respecting convenience of users and others. This is a bill —> coin changer at Kyoto station. I'm...
Continue reading Glory Engrish!.
I took this photo a few seconds after jumping onto platform 31 at Kyoto Station, and apparently about a minute after the 9:24am train to Amanohashidate left. In fact, you can see if pulling away from the station on the left-hand track. This sortof sucks, since the next train doesn't...
Continue reading Just missed it.
The whole bowing thing and all of the apologizing profusely that happens around here? It's a little more work, but it's way better than what I see on a daily basis in the US. I have to admit that I tend to err on the side of politeness in most...
Continue reading Politeness and the land of the rising sun.
I would be astounded enough to take a picture of this gold-plated 1980s Cadillac even it were found in the fantastically funkalicious U-S-of-A. But in Japan? I nearly wet myself....
Continue reading Japanapimpin'.
I'm crashing in Otsu tonight, mostly because I don't have the energy to trek across Kyoto looking for someplace decent (and not outrageously expensive) to sleep. On my way here from Shigaraki, I ran into an old guy on the train who happened to speak far better English than I...
Continue reading Stop: Otsu time.
We stopped over in Shigaraki today, where local artisans make bushels of ceramics. They also seem to make an awful lot of these tanuki statues, often chubby, smiling, and sporting hilariously large testicles....
Continue reading Shigaraki no tanuki.
Two more shots from yesterday: ancient Ninja Wolverine-like claw things, and a foldy boat! Ninja! Click the boat photo to see the poster of the boat in action....
Continue reading More Ninja Village photos.
Only two real differences between this and the last automated toilet: pink bunny toilet slippers, and a stinking remote control. The remote control even has a clock....
Continue reading Now that's what I'm talking about.
I didn't get my camera out in time, but there's a group (maybe a sports team?) just south of Tokyo called the "Red Rockets." They have their name and logo painted in huge letters on the side of a warehouse. P.S. I took this photo a while later in the...
Continue reading The red whats?.
Here goes a shout out to Akira (Ninja name: Takegumi no Shirewage) for being a completely kickass host for us at the Koka Ninja Village. If you're ever in Koka, I recommend the Ninja Village for an awesome time. Me and my buddy Ashay had a tour of a ninja...
Continue reading Japanese hospitality.
Spotted this in the back alleys of Shinjuku this morning. This place1 is suprisingly empty at 7am. 1 P.S. Shinjuku, not Denny's....
Continue reading It's no flim flam.
I took this last night right before crashing. This is approximately the same view as yesterday. Oops no that's wrong. Apparently it's harder than I expect to grab the right photo from the thumbnail....
Continue reading Shinjuku in the evening.
All manner of totally awesome vans. Pictured are marginally-less-than-sweet bigger vans (the one in the center is a second-generation Previa) but there are plenty of kickass box vans all over. Fancy parking....
Continue reading Two things popular in Japan.
...although, I was expecting far more automation from the commode in my hotel room. The automatic unit is actually strapped onto the top of the toilet (it's not built in) and it only features two extra functions, both of which involve shooting water at parts of your body that don't...
Continue reading Japanese toilet technology is years ahead of ours.
Competent public transit does a lot to support the growth of a major metropolitan area. Really good public transit—like the transit in Tokyo—plays a big part in shaping the city as it develops. The trains here are stinkin' fantastic. I haven't yet ridden on a shinkansen but even the regular...
Continue reading And the trains run on time.
That's good morning, Shinjuku! I'm running on 5 hours of sleep after 26 hours of being awake (long story), but my body is rejecting the idea of sleeping more, so I'm awake at 7am. In the next two hours I'll be headed to our regional office in Chofu to handle...
Continue reading Ohayo Shinjuku!.
Despite sites like Engrish.com and Engrish Funny, I sortof expected Japan to be largely free of mangled translations. After all, the Engrish meme has been around since the 1980s and surely the Japanese can find enough native English speakers to weed out all the nuttiness. But I was 100% completely...
Continue reading I am awash in Engrish.
I drank this on the train from Narita. It cost me a jillion yen and tasted nothing like carrots (closer to Sunny D)....
Continue reading Drink me.
