My view the whole time in the air... My view for most of my time in the plane was the stuff they used to
de-ice the plane and runway.
My trajectory. My plane on the way TO Japan (and on the way to Korea) had TVs at every seat. My
flight on the way back to Korea from Japan only had TVs in first class... Lame.
My room in the Ryokan. Quiant and interesting, but... no insulation. Freezing at night.
They have beer in vending machines.
This small stack of change was worth over 20 bucks... I thought Australia was bad in that regard. If I ever
move to Japan, I'll need a change dispenser.
A big electronics / hobby store in Osaka.
Just to prove I was there to those who don't understand the concept behind photoshop. ^_^;
He looks almost as happy as I looked in the Takoyaki picture. I wonder if that means his mouth was burned
from... the hallway, or maybe that TV.
Yay, bigish TV in the train station!
Okonomiyaki. It was good, just... very very hot (as in temperature, not spicy... Though we did put a lot
of pepper on it, so it actually was spicy)
Here I am burning my mouth... again.
It was good once it cooled down.
I think this was in Kyoto, but I'm not sure. There are shrines EVERYWHERE in Kyoto, even in the middle
of shopping districts.
This is the kind of street those shrines were right in the middle of. So people grab their groceries, their
train miniatures, their manga, their porn, and say a prayer at the shrine.
Heh.
A not that big bucket of caramel corn for, like, 18 bucks (the Yen's value has gone up since the days
when you could treat 1 yen as 1 cent.)
It smells like roses. It's actualy bath salts, but... yeah.
I think this is a restaurant in Kyoto.
Kabuki Theater
I thought it was interesting at the time.
Kamogawa (duck river) It's lined with concrete, and has man-made drains because it had been the cause
of flooding in Kyoto for centuries.
Ducks. A bit further down stream, there were cages where ducks had been trapped.
Lots of interesting architectures in Kyoto, but I wasn't to the real interesting spots yet.
Veery expensive flower vase.
Hair pins
Lot of old buildings in Kyoto
Big pagoda
insert description here
Tanuki. You'll find these statues everywhere. Tanuki are real creatures. They're a type of wild dog
with faces like Raccoons, but in Japanese folklore, they transform into other things
including people, but they have a weakness for alcohol.
Yup
Lovers go here to pray to stay together...
The vine was pretty cool
Fair few people in Kimonos in Kyoto. Also saw some Geisha, but when I tried to take a picture,
my battery died.
Yup. It looks more impressive in person, actually. From this pic, it's not all that different than something
at the YWAM Chico base.
View Toward the city of Kyoto
Prayers, I think, left by people wanting their relationships blessed...
Graveyard. Song Tae told me the graves cost more than a condo.
Green tea flavored Kit Kat
Pachinko. It's one of the great Loopholes in Japan. Gambling is technically illegal, but since they only give
"prizes" and not money, it's legal. If you happen to take your pachinko balls to another store a block away
and sell them for money, that's your issue, right?
DSiLL Get! (LL is like XL in the US... Double Large)
A store full of redemption (games you play for prizes) machines. The kids get started early.
There must be a lot of Koreans in Amagasaki, because there was this store devoted to Kimchi, a store
that only sold Korean Dramas on VHS, and a large collection of Nong Shim noodles with all Korean labels
No clue what that's supposed to mean, but Live-a-live was the name of an old game.
It's... it's... THE COLONEL! Aaaaargh!
Using Nadesico to adverstise Pachinko. I guess the otaku
kids of the '90s are the Pachinko players now.
What is with Asians never getting their pejorative terms correct? The modern term is CRACKER,
not WHITY... Geez.
Yays! Have yet to play it... It's like 90 bucks new in Japan.
She's supposed to be like a female Cloud. Even has the shoulder pad.
insert description here
insert description here
They'll take 100 dollars off the price of either a Wii or a PS3 if
you get Yahoo broadband
Part of my proof that the Japanese game ratings board has it in for western games. Infamous gets a Z rating...
That's the equivalent of an AO / NC-17 rating... There's no sex in it, it's not THAT violent, and it got a T
rating in the US (T is Teen, or equivalent to PG-13... It would be C rated in Japan)
Star Ocean International.
Pieces for train sets... I am amazed at the train hobbiests in Japan. I kind of wanted to get some stuff
to send to Richard.
People for the trian sets.
Lots of model cars
Movies are freakishly expensive when they're new.
Michael Jackson was EVERYWHERE
This is a discounted price. Over 25 bucks. It started over 50
Yeah
An old Godzilla movie for over 60 bucks... This is just...
Everyone there, and more than what you see here, in the hallway playing DS.
Hanshin Tigers. A baseball team in Japan.
They went on a long losing streak after some of their fans stole a Colonel Sanders statue and dropped it
into a river.
Discounted Kimono. 130,000 yen... Let's just say 1,400 dollars
to make it simple.
Well, I teach kids at a Korean school... I feel goocy all the time. You learn to guard your backside when
Korean children are around. Dong Shim!
UFO catcher machine. "A wise man once said, 'A UFO catcher is another man's piggy bank.'"
Another one.
Pokemon Cards are sooo 1996. It's all about Pokemon...
chips... And the Arcade games you can play with them.
Another store full of redemption machines.
Yes
Gacha machines... A whole store full of them in Nipponbashi, or the Otaku road in Osaka.
You know those machines you pop a quarter in and get a cheap toy? Well, it's like that,
except they cost 300 yen. And they have a huge variety of prizes. Some are cool,
some are whatever, and some are downright disturbing.
Takoyaki... Fried octopus balls. I probably look the way I do because I'd just burned my mouth. Again.
These are illegal to sell. Apparently this is a big part of Nipponbashi...
A little portion that sells illegal things. A black market in the middle
of Otaku-land.
Train Otaku make (and are sold) some incredible stuff...
I would love some of this stuff.
Just awesome
Ok
Part of Nipponbashi. Found out almost this exact picture is on
Wikipedia.
A picture from Kanon that costs over 300
bucks... I think Otaku, like most subcultures, started
as something cheap to do. Manga is cheap, and anime on TV
is free. As are blank VHS tapes. Used games are decent, too.
As time marches on, many of those Otaku get rich. Then
comes the exploitation. 50 dollar anime DVDs with 3 episodes a piece.
90 dollar high profile video games. 300 dollar pictures...
Mandom
I got one of those gacha dolls. On the awesome / meh / disturbing scale, this is about 7 on the awesome,
3 on the meh, and 4 on the disturbing. That's all I'll say
The last interesting thing I saw before I boarded the plane back
to Korea. Emma Watson selling some high priced
brand name crap... She goes to Brown, you know?