Thursday, July 12, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Interview with Me about Japan Blog List
As I've mentioned before JapanBlogList.com takes up some of my spare time, to the detriment of this blog sadly. I was recently contact by Steve 'Grin' Isobe-Harsha who wanted to add his blog to the list. As always I asked for a link back in return, to which he replied
Thank you for adding me to your list. I say this tongue in cheek, I am kind of strict on links. I only link to others that interview, are Relevant, donate, or link to me. You linked to me, but I would like to give you more than just a link back in return. I would definitely like to interview you and write a longer piece on your creative and helpful blog!
Who can resist an interview? So last week over a skype session we had a very pleasant chat, and the net result is Episode 6 of his podcast An interview with Jonathan Allen at JapanBlogList.
Thank you for adding me to your list. I say this tongue in cheek, I am kind of strict on links. I only link to others that interview, are Relevant, donate, or link to me. You linked to me, but I would like to give you more than just a link back in return. I would definitely like to interview you and write a longer piece on your creative and helpful blog!
Who can resist an interview? So last week over a skype session we had a very pleasant chat, and the net result is Episode 6 of his podcast An interview with Jonathan Allen at JapanBlogList.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Movember the first
I'm growing a moustache for November.
Sponsor me at Movember.com to raise money for Men's health charities.
The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers - prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes in line with our strategic goals in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Improv Comedy in Tokyo: Pirates of Tokyo Bay
I am always on the lookout for Comedy shows to go to and, thanks to a review in the Japan Times I discovered some Improv Comedy happening a pub called 'What the Dickens' in Ebisu.
A group calling themselves the Pirates of Tokyo did a show on Oct 16th 2011
Doors opened at :7:00pm and the show started at 7:30 Entrance was 1500 Yen which included one free drink. Food was available.
Location : "What the Dickens" , 1-13-3 EBISU-NISHI SHIBUYA-KU TOKYO. 3 minutes walk from Ebisu station, JR Yamanote line and Hibiya subway line.
If you have ever seen the TV show "Who's line is it anyway" then you'll know the kind of thing.
A group calling themselves the Pirates of Tokyo did a show on Oct 16th 2011
Doors opened at :7:00pm and the show started at 7:30 Entrance was 1500 Yen which included one free drink. Food was available.
Location : "What the Dickens" , 1-13-3 EBISU-NISHI SHIBUYA-KU TOKYO. 3 minutes walk from Ebisu station, JR Yamanote line and Hibiya subway line.
If you have ever seen the TV show "Who's line is it anyway" then you'll know the kind of thing.
The show was in both English and Japanese. I was interested to see how they would handle that. In fact it was very well done with some games all in English, some all in Japanese, and some in a mixture with some translations.
The show is divided in to a number of different games.
I really enjoyed the evening and I am looking forward to their next show they hope to put some time in December. I'll be posting details here when I hear about it.
The show is divided in to a number of different games.
I really enjoyed the evening and I am looking forward to their next show they hope to put some time in December. I'll be posting details here when I hear about it.Sunday, June 26, 2011
Random Photo of the day
I took this photo this afternoon somewhere in Tokyo. No prizes, but can anyone guess where this is?
Yes, they have wheels on them, and no I have no idea what they are going to do with them. They appeared within the last month.
One of the joys of life in Tokyo, the random things you see around here every day.
Yes, they have wheels on them, and no I have no idea what they are going to do with them. They appeared within the last month.
One of the joys of life in Tokyo, the random things you see around here every day.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ishinomaki , 3 months further on
Saturday 11 June 2011 marked the 3 month anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region. I took the opportunity to go to Ishinomaki, in Miyagi Prefecture to do some volunteer work.
The organiser had hired a 26 seater coach and we departed Tokyo just after 8pm. The two coach drivers took it in turns to drive us through the night, arriving at 3am at the Ishinomaki Senku University. They turned on all the coach lights to tell us they’d arrived and to go back to sleep until 7am! Mercifully there were no loud snorers but I still only managed about an hour of sleep. At 7am we drove several miles to find a Shikyu restaurant, where we all ate a hearty breakfast before returning to the Volunteer Centre at the Senku University Campus, to get our assigned task for the day.
The organisers’ desk opens at 8am every day and they efficiently processed us and the many hundreds of volunteers that were staying in tents or had arrived in cars and coaches. For those of us who had not been before, we were given small green insurance certificates and everyone was given a sticky label to attach to their clothing with your name, and to indicate that you were a volunteer. So we got into our working gear. Wellington (rubber) boots are by far the best footware, with gloves, helmets, dust masks and protective eye goggles and drove set out to start work on a small hospital building.
The first stage of cleanup had already been done, that was to bag up most of the small items of rubbish, and one room was piled high with rubbish bags.
We formed a human chain and made short work of shifting them outside where the council will take responsibility for removing them. The next stage was to remove all the large items : beds, chairs, tables and other furniture.
We then broke for lunch, which was at the same place as breakfast, earlier, and where there are two other restaurants open for business.
This is how it looked after the tsunami.
In the afternoon we returned for the final task, which was to shovel the sludge into bags. The thick, oily, mud had covered everything to a depth of approx. 2cm. It was fairly dry and didn’t smell too strong, though I was very careful to always wear gloves. The end result, You see the tide mark a few inches from the ceiling ?
That was how high the waters reached.
The mud filled sacks were taken outside into a separate pile and again the council will eventually come to collect it. Of course, one enormous problem for the disaster recovery is what to do with the massive amount of debris. Over 24 million tons alone in just three prefectures.
At exactly 2:46pm we had a moment of silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives, including the 24 people who had died in that same hospital.
After washing all the tools and the boots, we boarded the coach again and went to the port area of Ishinomaki, which had been hardest hit by the tsunami. There was almost total devastation, only a small number of structures remained. The damage was astounding.
More photos from Boston.com and some more of my photos on flickr
Another hour’s drive away was our hotel, and we arrived just in time for dinner, and with a little time to spare for the onsen. Those of us who were not completely exhausted, then stayed up for karaoke. The trip home on Sunday was uneventful, and we were back in Tokyo around 4:30pm. Dividing the cost of the coach between 26, it came to 10,000 yen each. The trip organiser had arranged for a volunteers’ certificate from the local ward office, and that entitled us to avoid payment of the expressway tolls, which would otherwise have added 30,000 to the total bill.
Only 15% of the ¥251.4 billion collected by the Red Cross has been distributed by local city and town civil servants who are, not surprisingly, struggling with the disaster themselves.
It's clear from my trip that one thing the locals do need is more man power. Cleaning out buildings is hard manual labour that really cannot be mechanised or automated. If you want to go up to the Tohoku region the organisation of volunteers, at least in Ishinomaki, is very good. If you don't speak Japanese Peaceboat are organising regular trips from Tokyo.
The trip from Tokyo by car or coach is long and expensive, what I'd like to see would be companies like H.I.S Travel offering cheap volunteer trips up there by shinkansen. I'm sure more people would be prepared to offer a day or two of labour if it was made easy and simple. What's your excuse for not helping?
This is my entry into this weeks:
The organiser had hired a 26 seater coach and we departed Tokyo just after 8pm. The two coach drivers took it in turns to drive us through the night, arriving at 3am at the Ishinomaki Senku University. They turned on all the coach lights to tell us they’d arrived and to go back to sleep until 7am! Mercifully there were no loud snorers but I still only managed about an hour of sleep. At 7am we drove several miles to find a Shikyu restaurant, where we all ate a hearty breakfast before returning to the Volunteer Centre at the Senku University Campus, to get our assigned task for the day.
The organisers’ desk opens at 8am every day and they efficiently processed us and the many hundreds of volunteers that were staying in tents or had arrived in cars and coaches. For those of us who had not been before, we were given small green insurance certificates and everyone was given a sticky label to attach to their clothing with your name, and to indicate that you were a volunteer. So we got into our working gear. Wellington (rubber) boots are by far the best footware, with gloves, helmets, dust masks and protective eye goggles and drove set out to start work on a small hospital building.
The first stage of cleanup had already been done, that was to bag up most of the small items of rubbish, and one room was piled high with rubbish bags.
We formed a human chain and made short work of shifting them outside where the council will take responsibility for removing them. The next stage was to remove all the large items : beds, chairs, tables and other furniture.
We then broke for lunch, which was at the same place as breakfast, earlier, and where there are two other restaurants open for business.
This is how it looked after the tsunami.
In the afternoon we returned for the final task, which was to shovel the sludge into bags. The thick, oily, mud had covered everything to a depth of approx. 2cm. It was fairly dry and didn’t smell too strong, though I was very careful to always wear gloves. The end result, You see the tide mark a few inches from the ceiling ?
That was how high the waters reached.
The mud filled sacks were taken outside into a separate pile and again the council will eventually come to collect it. Of course, one enormous problem for the disaster recovery is what to do with the massive amount of debris. Over 24 million tons alone in just three prefectures.
At exactly 2:46pm we had a moment of silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives, including the 24 people who had died in that same hospital.
After washing all the tools and the boots, we boarded the coach again and went to the port area of Ishinomaki, which had been hardest hit by the tsunami. There was almost total devastation, only a small number of structures remained. The damage was astounding.
More photos from Boston.com and some more of my photos on flickr
Another hour’s drive away was our hotel, and we arrived just in time for dinner, and with a little time to spare for the onsen. Those of us who were not completely exhausted, then stayed up for karaoke. The trip home on Sunday was uneventful, and we were back in Tokyo around 4:30pm. Dividing the cost of the coach between 26, it came to 10,000 yen each. The trip organiser had arranged for a volunteers’ certificate from the local ward office, and that entitled us to avoid payment of the expressway tolls, which would otherwise have added 30,000 to the total bill.
Only 15% of the ¥251.4 billion collected by the Red Cross has been distributed by local city and town civil servants who are, not surprisingly, struggling with the disaster themselves.
It's clear from my trip that one thing the locals do need is more man power. Cleaning out buildings is hard manual labour that really cannot be mechanised or automated. If you want to go up to the Tohoku region the organisation of volunteers, at least in Ishinomaki, is very good. If you don't speak Japanese Peaceboat are organising regular trips from Tokyo.
The trip from Tokyo by car or coach is long and expensive, what I'd like to see would be companies like H.I.S Travel offering cheap volunteer trips up there by shinkansen. I'm sure more people would be prepared to offer a day or two of labour if it was made easy and simple. What's your excuse for not helping?
This is my entry into this weeks:
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Google thinks I'm Transport for London
This blog has been a bit thin recently, I've been spending far too much of my time on my other hobby of maintaining the JapanBlogList which ends up with me visiting a lot of other blogs and generally getting nothing else much done. If I'm not reading other people's blogs I'm posting random stuff on Facebook to amuse my friends such as The Chihuahua pulling a sled from Japanprobe, "Hug your wife day" from Japanalooza, the link between Pink tentacle posting an article on LED Smiles on Jan 17th, which got picked up the NY times on the 21st Jan and the Guardian on the 25th Jan as real craze , but swiftly debunked by the Japan Times on the 30th Jan.
My favorite was the 'incident writeup' for a recent problem when shinkansen trains were halted for more than an hour. seems they forgot to update some hard coded limits in the scheduling system. ( But then I am in IT, and part of my job is incident write ups to explain to our users what happened when things went wrong.)
But for a change, for no good reason this evening, I thought I would see if anyone does still bother to visit this blog. Heading over to trusty Google analytics I was surprised to see a steady stream of visitor's averaging around 100 per day. But what is most confusing is when I looked to see the key words they come for :
"TFL Map" TFL Tube Map, London Underground Map... and other variations account for eight out of the top ten hits.
Sure enough if you do a google search for TFL Map, in the section of images, the link on the first image of the underground map is a link to a post I did in 2007 titled "Seoul on the Jubilee Line"
In the post I had a link to a diagram showing all the cities which have, are building or are planning to construct an urban rail sytstem, arranged in the style of the London Tube map. I also included a link to the real map on the TFL Website to compare. So how come my blog rates higher than the real TFL site for their own image? Go figure.
My favorite was the 'incident writeup' for a recent problem when shinkansen trains were halted for more than an hour. seems they forgot to update some hard coded limits in the scheduling system. ( But then I am in IT, and part of my job is incident write ups to explain to our users what happened when things went wrong.)
But for a change, for no good reason this evening, I thought I would see if anyone does still bother to visit this blog. Heading over to trusty Google analytics I was surprised to see a steady stream of visitor's averaging around 100 per day. But what is most confusing is when I looked to see the key words they come for :
"TFL Map" TFL Tube Map, London Underground Map... and other variations account for eight out of the top ten hits.
Sure enough if you do a google search for TFL Map, in the section of images, the link on the first image of the underground map is a link to a post I did in 2007 titled "Seoul on the Jubilee Line"
In the post I had a link to a diagram showing all the cities which have, are building or are planning to construct an urban rail sytstem, arranged in the style of the London Tube map. I also included a link to the real map on the TFL Website to compare. So how come my blog rates higher than the real TFL site for their own image? Go figure.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Happy Christmas, from The Japan Times and Me
There was a Christmas gift lottery in the Japan Times two weeks ago. All you had to do was send them an email with your name and address and your preferred choice of gift from the list of six or seven different presents on offer. I selected what I imagined would be the least popular choices, sent off an email. Lo and behold on Saturday I got a nice hand addressed letter with a little surprise inside :
A bookmark in traditional lacquer technique, handmade and hand painted by Japanese craftsmen from Fuji-Tori.
I was delighted at such a beautiful piece of work, many thanks indeed to the Japan Times and Fuji-Torii for the gift.
So, to all my readers, enjoy your gifts and the holiday season. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas, and all the best for the New Year.
A bookmark in traditional lacquer technique, handmade and hand painted by Japanese craftsmen from Fuji-Tori.
I was delighted at such a beautiful piece of work, many thanks indeed to the Japan Times and Fuji-Torii for the gift.
So, to all my readers, enjoy your gifts and the holiday season. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas, and all the best for the New Year.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
My Life as a Yoga Guinea Pig - Jala Neti
Most married men are subject to the whims of their (sometimes insane) wives, and I am no exception. You see the wife teaches yoga and there has been no peace for the last year whilst I resolutely refused to practise Jala Neti ( saline nasal irrigation ) for the simple reason that a. it was horrible and b. nothing (good) happened.
In yoga circles "good" is defined as water going in one nostril and then flowing Ganges-like through the other nostril under the pull of gravity or whatever.
I started my feeble efforts about a year ago but some beaver-like log-jam deep inside my sinuses prevented any fluid from emerging. Then, about three weeks ago ( and for no particular reason ) I decided to give it another go. This was about the third time and you know what they say ..
The Niagara effect did indeed manifest but only from left to right nostril; a two-way flow was only established on the fourth attempt.
To finish : Since my jala neti epiphany I have not gone around sniffing at everything, nor have I become a wine expert, but I AM breathing rather well.
If you want to subject yourself to similar (ill) treatment, contact paola@yogasan.net and see YogaSan
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sumo : Hakuho wins 60th consecutive bout
We visited the Sumo today. The 12th day of the Tokyo Grand Sumo tournament at the Kokugikan at Ryogoku. It is a fascinating spectacle. We arrived fairly early around 1pm and were enthralled all afternoon until the final bout just before 6pm. Hakuho the 25 year old Yokozuna was looking to continue his undefeated run of 59 bouts. He fought Baruto and won very convincingly in less than thirty seconds :
Tickets are still on sale for the last two days Saturday and Sunday if you are quick. We had a group of three seats in a small 'box' which means you sit on a cushion on the floor. So if you prefer a seat, you are better off with the cheaper tickets, that are in the second floor and bring a pair of binoculars. We bought ours at Ticket Pia on the second floor of Shibuya 109 building in Shibuya.
Tickets are still on sale for the last two days Saturday and Sunday if you are quick. We had a group of three seats in a small 'box' which means you sit on a cushion on the floor. So if you prefer a seat, you are better off with the cheaper tickets, that are in the second floor and bring a pair of binoculars. We bought ours at Ticket Pia on the second floor of Shibuya 109 building in Shibuya.
Monday, September 20, 2010
FolkRocks - Japanese Band
I've been to a couple of concerts by this band FolkRocks and I really like their sound. It's a cross between Folk music and Rock music! Here's one of their tunes with a video of the view out of the window of a train journey I took from Shimoda on the Izu penisula.
Sadly I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but I've been told they fit quite well with the visuals.
The front man of the band is Rui Nagai and he leads the band of five people. There is great atmosphere at the concerts with some very loyal fans.
You can a preview of the other songs on the album at iTunes
They don't play many gigs, but there is one coming up next month in Tokyo. I'll be there and if you'd like to join me I think you'll have a great night out.
Date: Wednesday October 20th 2010 · 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Location : STAR PINE'S CAFE
B1 1-20-16 Kichijoji , Tokyo.
Ticket price: 3,600yen ( includes 1 drink)
Facebook Event link : FolkRocks Live
Venue Directions : Take the north exit of Kichijoji station and come out to the big rotary. Take the big street on the right (passing UFJ Bank on your right), heading away from the station. Take the third right after UFJ, and find Star Pine's Cafe on your left .
Directions taken from Tokyo Gig Guide. They have got a huge list of venues that have live music in Tokyo.
If you like Japanese music, there's sure to me more blog posts thanks to this months Japan Blog Matsuri. Hosted by Jessica at Nippon Ichigo The theme is Japanese Music. What's your favourite Japanese band ?
Sadly I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but I've been told they fit quite well with the visuals.
The front man of the band is Rui Nagai and he leads the band of five people. There is great atmosphere at the concerts with some very loyal fans.
You can a preview of the other songs on the album at iTunes
They don't play many gigs, but there is one coming up next month in Tokyo. I'll be there and if you'd like to join me I think you'll have a great night out.
Date: Wednesday October 20th 2010 · 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Location : STAR PINE'S CAFE
B1 1-20-16 Kichijoji , Tokyo.
Ticket price: 3,600yen ( includes 1 drink)
Facebook Event link : FolkRocks Live
Venue Directions : Take the north exit of Kichijoji station and come out to the big rotary. Take the big street on the right (passing UFJ Bank on your right), heading away from the station. Take the third right after UFJ, and find Star Pine's Cafe on your left .
Directions taken from Tokyo Gig Guide. They have got a huge list of venues that have live music in Tokyo.
If you like Japanese music, there's sure to me more blog posts thanks to this months Japan Blog Matsuri. Hosted by Jessica at Nippon Ichigo The theme is Japanese Music. What's your favourite Japanese band ?
Saturday, August 28, 2010
JapanBlogList.com Resurrected
I glanced at google analytics for the stats on this blog recently and I noticed the site at number seven in the top 10 list of referrers JapanBlogList.com. I recall sending a request to be added back in 2007 when I moved to Japan, but I had never really noticed it since then. Looking at the site two weeks ago, it was obvious that it was no longer being maintained, which I thought was a shame.
Long term readers from my time in Korea may remember, I wrote a number of posts about new blogs from the KoreanBlogList.com and I always enjoyed finding new blogs to read. So I emailed the JapanBlogList site. To my surprise I received an email back, even more surprising was that the man behind the site is none other than Gary (GDog) from TheDailyKimchi. I met him a couple of times while were both living in Korea and we exchanged numerous emails.
So, to cut a long story short, Gary is busy in Canada and he had not had time to update the list, so I volunteered and he was delighted to let me loose on the site that he built. There is quite a lot of work to do for the site, so I have decided on number of phases for the effort required.
Phase One : Delete all the dead links. That started a couple of weeks ago when I took over, and ( thanks to Jeff as well who sent in a couple of links that I had missed) I think all the dead links have gone.
Phase Two : Add all the latest suggestions in the JapanBlogList inbox. This phase is almost complete. There are still another ten or so from the June and May that still need to be added. I hope to finish that this week.
Phase Three: Revisit all the blogs and collect the RSS feeds for each blog. Once this is complete I will use the Blogger.com feature 'list of blogs' to publish the latest updates for all the blogs onto the JapanBlogList.com website. That's going to couple more weeks. Maybe I should set myself a deadline...
Phase Four : Start a regular posting schedule to list the newly added blogs with maybe a few lines on each blog. In addition I have already started a twitter feed twitter.com/JapanBlogList. All new blogs will get a tweet with the link.
Phase Five : Run a competition for a Logo for the site for use in social media sites etc and start promoting the site. www.Japansoc.com will be the first port of call. Any other suggestions?
Phase Six : I can't think that far ahead. This should be enough to keep me busy for a few month yet...
So, I have you a blog relating to anything Japanese please let me know. Just follow the instructions on the site for submission, or feel free to add a comment below.
The main requirements are :
1. That the blog has a least ten posts : I don't want people who have just started a blog, try it for a couple of weeks and then give up, so that I have to go and delete them.
2. Has posted something within the last four months.
The site is getting at least a hundred visitors per day, so addition to the list will certainly increase your chances of getting visitors.
If you know of other Japanese blogs not already listed (and I already know there are quite a few that I read that are not listed) please let the blogger know that JapanBlogList.com is Back in Business.
Long term readers from my time in Korea may remember, I wrote a number of posts about new blogs from the KoreanBlogList.com and I always enjoyed finding new blogs to read. So I emailed the JapanBlogList site. To my surprise I received an email back, even more surprising was that the man behind the site is none other than Gary (GDog) from TheDailyKimchi. I met him a couple of times while were both living in Korea and we exchanged numerous emails.
So, to cut a long story short, Gary is busy in Canada and he had not had time to update the list, so I volunteered and he was delighted to let me loose on the site that he built. There is quite a lot of work to do for the site, so I have decided on number of phases for the effort required.
Phase One : Delete all the dead links. That started a couple of weeks ago when I took over, and ( thanks to Jeff as well who sent in a couple of links that I had missed) I think all the dead links have gone.
Phase Two : Add all the latest suggestions in the JapanBlogList inbox. This phase is almost complete. There are still another ten or so from the June and May that still need to be added. I hope to finish that this week.
Phase Three: Revisit all the blogs and collect the RSS feeds for each blog. Once this is complete I will use the Blogger.com feature 'list of blogs' to publish the latest updates for all the blogs onto the JapanBlogList.com website. That's going to couple more weeks. Maybe I should set myself a deadline...
Phase Four : Start a regular posting schedule to list the newly added blogs with maybe a few lines on each blog. In addition I have already started a twitter feed twitter.com/JapanBlogList. All new blogs will get a tweet with the link.
Phase Five : Run a competition for a Logo for the site for use in social media sites etc and start promoting the site. www.Japansoc.com will be the first port of call. Any other suggestions?
Phase Six : I can't think that far ahead. This should be enough to keep me busy for a few month yet...
So, I have you a blog relating to anything Japanese please let me know. Just follow the instructions on the site for submission, or feel free to add a comment below.
The main requirements are :
1. That the blog has a least ten posts : I don't want people who have just started a blog, try it for a couple of weeks and then give up, so that I have to go and delete them.
2. Has posted something within the last four months.
The site is getting at least a hundred visitors per day, so addition to the list will certainly increase your chances of getting visitors.
If you know of other Japanese blogs not already listed (and I already know there are quite a few that I read that are not listed) please let the blogger know that JapanBlogList.com is Back in Business.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Tibetan Sand Mandala
I was lucky enough to get to see this Sand Mandala created by four Tibetan monks from the Tashi Lhunpo Monsastery this week. They started creating the masterpiece to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Dalai Lama's birth on Tuesday 29th June at the Mitsuo Aida Museum in Tokyo. By Sunday 4th July morning they had almost finished.
Just the finishing touches before it was complete.
After the mandala was complete prayers were said and a mask dance was performed and a final ceremony before the sand was brushed into a small urn.
Finally the sand was taken the nearby Sumida river and scattered into the water to symbolise the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
Just the finishing touches before it was complete.
After the mandala was complete prayers were said and a mask dance was performed and a final ceremony before the sand was brushed into a small urn.
Finally the sand was taken the nearby Sumida river and scattered into the water to symbolise the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Yoga, Beach and Fireflies : 12-13 June 2010
A firefly (Japanese, hotaru or botaru) is a small insect that produces light to attract a mate; in the Tokyo area of Japan this occurs in June. Here there are two species of Luciola (scientific name); genji-botaru and heike-botaru. Fireflies occur in many parts of the world, though they are strongly associated with the literature and art of Japan. This woodblock print (1864) is from the famous Genji Monogatari (thus genji-botaru), and illustrates a fascination for and appreciation of insect forms which finds expression in exquisite and minutely crafted works originating in China and Japan.My wife is running a yoga weekend near Kurihama, at the Nobi Beach Club (One hour from Tokyo).
The program includes a night excursion for Firefly Viewing. Cost is 27,000 yen. Places are still available.
Please contact for details : paola@yogasan.net
Friday, April 16, 2010
Yoga weekend at Nobi Beach Club
My wife Paola has been teaching yoga in Tokyo for almost a year in our beautiful yoga studio. Recently we went on a first trial-run of a yoga weekend retreat. We got to know of the delightful hostess, Jude, who runs a fantastic bed and breakfast near the beach, close to Kurihama in the south western corner of Tokyo Bay. The NOBI BEACH CLUB.
Two students were eager to try out the experience and we got the train together to Keikyu Kurihama station (about 1 hour of out Tokyo).
There's a popular country park about thirty minutes walk from the B&B, that has a variety of attractions including a spectacular Godzilla statue.
Sunday Morning we had the first lesson at 9am. This included standing poses like Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana , and inverted poses like Sirsasana (headstand) and Adho Mukha Vriksasana (handstand) . After breakfast we had some free time to explore the countryside around Nobi.
The afternoon class focused more on stretching and twisting asanas and ended with pranayama (breath control). In the evening Mr G, organised a very tasty barbecue and we sat, laughed and talked around the fire.
On the Monday morning we got up good and early for a silent meditative walk along the beach to a suitable location on the boardwalk for Surya Namaskara ( The Sun Salutation ). We performed ten rounds of the sequence of forward and backward bends and stretches in the glorious morning sunlight before heading back to the B&B for the morning yoga class. This lesson was challenging, but the excellent eggs and bacon provided for breakfast were a good reward for our hard work.
We had some free time to enjoy walking along the beach and into the forest that starts right outside the house. We ended the weekend with a trip to Jude's favourite eatery: the Kalika, an excellent Nepalese restaurant overlooking the sea.
Paola runs lessons suitable for all levels. Private lessons for a minimum of two people are available. We are also planning many more yoga by the beach weekends starting in June 2010. For more details drop me an email or contact Paola directly from YogaSan
Two students were eager to try out the experience and we got the train together to Keikyu Kurihama station (about 1 hour of out Tokyo).
There's a popular country park about thirty minutes walk from the B&B, that has a variety of attractions including a spectacular Godzilla statue.
Sunday Morning we had the first lesson at 9am. This included standing poses like Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana , and inverted poses like Sirsasana (headstand) and Adho Mukha Vriksasana (handstand) . After breakfast we had some free time to explore the countryside around Nobi.
The afternoon class focused more on stretching and twisting asanas and ended with pranayama (breath control). In the evening Mr G, organised a very tasty barbecue and we sat, laughed and talked around the fire.
On the Monday morning we got up good and early for a silent meditative walk along the beach to a suitable location on the boardwalk for Surya Namaskara ( The Sun Salutation ). We performed ten rounds of the sequence of forward and backward bends and stretches in the glorious morning sunlight before heading back to the B&B for the morning yoga class. This lesson was challenging, but the excellent eggs and bacon provided for breakfast were a good reward for our hard work.
We had some free time to enjoy walking along the beach and into the forest that starts right outside the house. We ended the weekend with a trip to Jude's favourite eatery: the Kalika, an excellent Nepalese restaurant overlooking the sea.
Paola runs lessons suitable for all levels. Private lessons for a minimum of two people are available. We are also planning many more yoga by the beach weekends starting in June 2010. For more details drop me an email or contact Paola directly from YogaSan
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Yamanote line suspended (Mar 23 2010)
Apologies for the spelling, this was from my cell phone earlier this evening. The JR Yamanote line, JR Shonan Shinjuku line and the Saikyo lines were all suspended. My normal trip home from Ebisu to Shibuya was somewhat delayed. After some deliberation I worked out the quickest route would be the one stop south on the Hibiya line to Naka-Meguro and one stop north again on the express Minatomirai line to Shibuya. It only took an extra 15 minutes, but I foolishly did not collect a free subway line ticket from the station staff offering them for the alternative routes, so it cost me 260 Yen. When I arrived at Shibuya the trains were still suspended. I look forward to details tomorrow of what happened.
Since there was no point entering Ebisu station I failed to get a photo of the new platform edge doors that have appeared after the long weekend. I'll try and take a shot tomorrow.
Update: it made the front page on the Japan Times printed edition today with a photo of some people being helped off a stuck train. The root cause was an obstacle hanging from overhead wires. More than 2,000 commuters were trapped on trains in the incident that lasted 90 minutes.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Transport Bookshop in Tokyo
Just come back from a trip to Nishiyama bookstore in Ikebukuro.
View Larger Map
If you are looking for a transport bookshop in Tokyo this is the place to go. It covers trains, planes, boats, trucks, buses and cars; plus some movies and war related books. Most of the books are secondhand and in English but there is a good collection of German and French language books and magazines on trains.
If Ian Allan is one of your favourite publishers, or the initials BNSF mean something to you, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The shop is well organised with almost all the books well ordered, though I was surprised to see a street atlas of a small town in England amongst all the railways books.
The one thing that is missing though, is books on Japanese railways. I found one slim booklet on the Light Rail systems of West Japan, and a couple of books of photos of Japanese trains with Japanese text, but that was it.
Only five minutes walk from Ikebukuro station this small shop is worth a visit if transport is your thing. But If you are looking for fiction or more general second handbooks then go just a couple of stops south on the Yamanote line to Blue Parrot books in Takadanobaba , or carry on further south to Ebisu to Good Day Books.
I'm sure there are more second hand English language bookshops in Tokyo, A search yields this list from American Airlines which includes a few I've not heard of. And if you'd rather shop online I discovered Infinity Books Japan , but it's not the same as browsing a dusty bookshelf looking for something unusual.
Anyone got any more bookshops to share?
View Larger Map
If you are looking for a transport bookshop in Tokyo this is the place to go. It covers trains, planes, boats, trucks, buses and cars; plus some movies and war related books. Most of the books are secondhand and in English but there is a good collection of German and French language books and magazines on trains.
If Ian Allan is one of your favourite publishers, or the initials BNSF mean something to you, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The shop is well organised with almost all the books well ordered, though I was surprised to see a street atlas of a small town in England amongst all the railways books.
The one thing that is missing though, is books on Japanese railways. I found one slim booklet on the Light Rail systems of West Japan, and a couple of books of photos of Japanese trains with Japanese text, but that was it.
Only five minutes walk from Ikebukuro station this small shop is worth a visit if transport is your thing. But If you are looking for fiction or more general second handbooks then go just a couple of stops south on the Yamanote line to Blue Parrot books in Takadanobaba , or carry on further south to Ebisu to Good Day Books.
I'm sure there are more second hand English language bookshops in Tokyo, A search yields this list from American Airlines which includes a few I've not heard of. And if you'd rather shop online I discovered Infinity Books Japan , but it's not the same as browsing a dusty bookshelf looking for something unusual.
Anyone got any more bookshops to share?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Frisk 'Hello Idea'
Update:
From YouTube, the video advert too :
Friday, January 01, 2010
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