4 Mar 2016

Hanami Countdown to March 26th in the Tokyo Area

by | posted in: Hanami, Parks, Spring, Tokyo, Ueno | 0
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The bears want you to join them for hanami in Ueno Park. I’d RSVP if I were you.

 

Hanami Season is Upon Us in Tokyo – Be there and FEEL the Hanami Love!

Spent the say at Ueno Park Zoo yesterday. Animals were lively. I promise, pics to follow. Between the animals, cherry blossoms and people watching we got some great images to share with our friends. I post this now to give you a heads up on the Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) festivities that are revving up towards the end of this month and into April. We’ve gone before and it’s a beautiful sight to see. Plus, a very popular way for families and lovers to share in the beauty of what seems to be a cherry blossom covered park in Tokyo springtime. People will be picnicking, spending time at the shrines and basking in the beauty of plum and cherry blossoms as the world suddenly becomes very pink.

This is a MUST SEE event, so don’t miss it. If you know of hanami opportunities around Japan please leave your comments or contact us and we will be happy to post information and photos. I know we plan to make a run out to Chichibu to their gorgeous cherry blossom viewing season. Lots of cosplayers out there which is an added beauty.

More information here. Follow one of the images to the Official Ueno Park Zoo web site. The link takes you to an English page. The web site offers multiple languages for international visitors. If you live in Japan or you are visiting for an extended period, consider an annual pass. In 4 visits the pass has paid for itself and it offers a years worth of fun and joy for the pass holder. The Zoo also offers discounts to schools and groups. It is also possible to book special events or special programs for large groups. Cameras and video cameras are allowed. Please do not use your FLASH though. It can be very disturbing to the critters. Especially the marsupials.

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A great map and guide for the park and the zoo and points of interest for hanami visitors.
25 Feb 2016

Thai restaurant Khao San in Shinjuku brings back memories of Thailand

by | posted in: International, Shinjuku, Thai, Tokyo | 0

My partner and I were planning a trip into Shinjuku the other day to buy some camera and computer gear. We discussed having lunch or dinner there and she asked me about a Thai restaurant I glowed about after visiting a couple of times with a former colleague. I told her where “I thought it was” lol, I am usually lost in Shinjuku…and she did the rest.

She found a place she was pretty sure is “the place.” She rattled off the address and I said, “yeah, I think so. Sounds right.”
We wondered around the maze that is the eki Shinjuku and after 10 minutes or so Miura announced we were there. It wasn’t the place but it looked like a lot more fun.

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We found Khao San (Named after the fun and lively Khao San (Chao San) Road area in Bangkok, Thailand, using the links below. They have English, Japanese and Chinese search pages and make finding a nice “table” “eazy peezy.”

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http://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13091892/

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http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13091892/

Or, you can use their card. I always pick up a card for a place I want to return to.

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It was around dinner time so we decided on going with a set meal. Set A and Set C which are shown below.
Basically I got a green curry with soup, rice and dessert and added in an order of fresh spring rolls. Everything was pretty tasty.

Partner got the Phad Thai and Gao Po chicken. We were both stuffed at the end of it. We enjoyed the atmosphere though it is not a place to hang out in for hours. They are busy and a constant flow of customers, (mostly women, very cute women), keep the place hopping.

Dinner for both of came out to about 2600 yen. Not bad. Khao San also offers take away and bento boxes for those on the run or folks who want to take it home.

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Khao San is in the basement of Lumine 1 and is surrounded by other restaurants, bakeries and markets. You can easily spend some time in the area and found some of the bakeries to be quite affordable. Up market taste and look with a mid market price. Not bad at all.
Enjoy the pics and head on over to Khao San.

yamato, spirit, travel, in Japan, visiting Japan, eating in Japan, international, tourists, temples, parks, museums, art, kimono, green tea, sushi, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, Hokkaido, tech, games, manga, anime,

yamato, spirit, travel, in Japan, visiting Japan, eating in Japan, international, tourists, temples, parks, museums, art, kimono, green tea, sushi, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, Hokkaido, tech, games, manga, anime,

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yamato, spirit, travel, in Japan, visiting Japan, eating in Japan, international, tourists, temples, parks, museums, art, kimono, green tea, sushi, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, Hokkaido, tech, games, manga, anime,

yamato, spirit, travel, in Japan, visiting Japan, eating in Japan, international, tourists, temples, parks, museums, art, kimono, green tea, sushi, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, Hokkaido, tech, games, manga, anime,

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yamato, spirit, travel, in Japan, visiting Japan, eating in Japan, international, tourists, temples, parks, museums, art, kimono, green tea, sushi, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, Hokkaido, tech, games, manga, anime,

3 May 2015

A Short Walk Down a Long Path in mountain town of Yokoze

by | posted in: Chichibu, Flowers, History, Saitama, Shibazakura, Spring | 0

Spring has finally come to Japan after a long and cold, though for us, uneventful (Yay, No Snow!) winter. Today we went to the mountain town of Chichibu to see the Shibazakura. Some years ago the townspeople got the great idea to create a carpet of flowers, “Shibazakura” to welcome the spring and welcome visitors to their beautiful town.

ys02This is the view from the path that takes you to the flower event. Such a breathtaking view.

On the path we found wild flowers and color of an amazing scope and variety. Yokoze is really an enjoyable place and a lot of fun for the whole family. A gentle climb eventually takes you to the shibazakura, just ahead, but until then enjoy the scenery and the vibrant life and beauty springing up all around you now that winter has faded to a memory.

ys03This wood pile is not just an ordinary wood pile used for firewood. Rather this wood is used to grown mushrooms the old fashioned way. Japanese people in the mountains have been growing mushrooms this way for centuries. Just because it is 2015 some things do not need to change.

ys04 A little closer to the festival we find more and more color. Gardens are everywhere and this beautiful house garden lines the road to welcome travelers and help guide the way to shibazakura.

ys06On our way home we found this beautiful lake. It is actually an ancient reservoir that has some very interesting history. History going back 1000 years and relates to an up-rising in the region, one of the only uprisings of local people against the central government of the time.

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3 May 2015

Have you tried Shika Menchi?

by | posted in: Chichibu, Shibazakura, Spring | 0

shika menchi 鹿めんち shika menchi 鹿めんち shika menchi 鹿めんち shika menchi 鹿めんちWe just returned from this year’s shibazakura going on in Saitama prefecture in the mountain town of Chichibu. You can easily find your way by taking the Seibu Chichibu line train and get off at the Yokoze stop. Follow the big pink signs to your right as you exit the station.

It’s just a short walk through country farms and mountain homes. Its a different path than if you take the train all the way into Chichibu and go to the flower carpet festival nestled in the hills below Mt Bukol.

The last time I got to have venison I was a teenager in the Southern US. I was at a historical re-enactment event and some fellow history buffs made a big pot of venison stew. It was delicious and since then I’ve always wanted to try venison again.

As we approached the entrance to the flower carpet display we found ourselves on the pathway you see above. Just a little further up the trail and on the left we found a little wooden shack and two kind ladies preparing snacks and treats for travelers on their way to the beautiful spectacle of flowers.

Japanese call these korokke cakes “shika menchi” 鹿めんち – You can have a toasted delicious cake made with rice, mountain spices, and ground up wild deer meat.

11 Apr 2015

Yasukuni shrine, Beautiful, peaceful and popular with Japanese

by | posted in: History, Spiritual, Spring, Tokyo, Yasukuni shrine | 0

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We visited Yasukuni shrine on a weekend. Their was an antique market going on in front of the shrine; we wanted to see both. The market was great but the shrine was even more so. There is a power there that some people do not like. Personally, I think every country has a right to honor their dead. There are no innocent countries or armies anywhere as far as I know. They do good, they do bad.

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I enjoy going to shrines throughout Japan. Yasukuni has been on my list for awhile. We came through the main dori, washed our hands and mouths and entered the shrine’s main compound. We prayed and stopped for a few moments to reflect on the peace and quiet, the birds singing and the beauty of the place.

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I recommend visiting Yasukuni if you have the chance. It is situated in a beautiful part of Tokyo, not far from the Tokyo Dome.

10 Apr 2015

In this pond, the koi are feeling the love with splendid colors

by | posted in: Animals-Widlife, fish, Iruma, koi, Spring | 0

We were visiting Irumashi the other day. Their is a cool section called Johnson town, the subject of another post coming up in the next few days. Across from Johnson town are schools and a massive park network with places for picnicking, walking, jogging, biking, cosplay shoots, (another post coming) and at least two lakes.

Its a vibrant and great place for the whole family and for…this pond of koi. These fish are HUGE.

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In this pond, the koi are feeling the love with splendid colors. Iruma has a beautiful pond and a larger lake. Koi are in abundance in this pond, a koi pond I guess. Their colors are beautiful and they are very friendly.

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In this pond, the koi are feeling the love with splendid colors. I’m convinced there is a special magic at work in this park. We did not retouch or re-color the photos in any way. We re-sized them and added our website’s watermark and that was it. I wasn’t sure if I would post them beforehand. It was a cloudy day, the pond was murky and the fish were looking…a little bland. Probably feeling the rain and the chill of the weather.

I guess something happened somewhere because the koi you see above truly represent the life force they gave off to our group. They were very active, jumping around almost, and I guess they just wanted to show their true colors. Remarkable.

Do you have any animal, fish or wildlife photos we can post? If you do, please contact us here t the site. We’d love to share your work.
KAM

9 Apr 2015

High on a hilltop, the sakura have awakened

by | posted in: Saitama, Spring | 0

Do you like nature watching like we do? I admit, I also enjoy human watching, especially children as they play together and laugh and run around. But today, there was no great beauty then a park near our home that is truly awakening to spring. Even as the news report tells us if temperatures dropping and perhaps a little snow, I can look back on this day and feel like the trees, I am once again, coming alive after a long winter’s nap.

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High on a hilltop, the sakura have awaken

8 Apr 2015

Japan Readies Test of New Stealth Fighter Jet

by | posted in: Air Force, Military, Technology | 0
Zachary Keck

Picture_93Japan is preparing to test its first ever domestically built stealth fighter jet, Chinese and Taiwanese media are reporting.

“The highly anticipated F-3, Japan’s first domestically-made stealth jet, is aiming to conduct test flights this summer,” the Taiwan-based Want China Times reported, citing a story in the PLA Daily, the official publication of the Chinese military.

Japan has been building a prototype stealth fighter as part of its advanced technology demonstrator-experimental (ATD-X) program. Some of the first images of the prototype were first published on the web last year.

The ATD-X program, which is being run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has run into myriad different problems. Indeed, Japan had originally intended to conduct the first flight test of the jet in 2014. However, Tokyo was forced to postpone the test due to “engine control” problems. Back in January, Flight Global reported that, because of these problems, the F-3 wouldn’t conduct its first test “until late this year at the earliest.”

As the name suggests, the ATD-X program aims to develop new technologies to enable Japan to build its own fifth- and sixth-generation fighter jets in the coming decades. The program was started in part because the United States imposed an export ban on its first fifth-generation stealth fighter jet—the F-22.

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According to Fox Trot Alpha, along with seeking to develop stealth technologies, “the ATD-X will test include a second generation AESA radar, advanced ‘fly-by-fiber-optic’ flight control system that can compensate for battle damage and control surface failures, [and] an advanced ESM and ECM suite.” Flight Global further reports that “two IHI-made XF5-1 low-bypass turbofan engines power the ATD-X, each providing a maximum of 5t (11,000lb) of thrust.”

The ATD-X project is expected to cost at least Y39.2 billion ($330 million), and conclude sometime in 2017. Ultimately, Japan hopes the technological innovations gained from the ATD-X project will enable it to produce the F-3, a fifth-generation fighter jet. The F-3s are expected to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Mitsubishi F-2 and F-15J fleets. However, since the F-3s are not expected to enter service until the 2030s, Japan recently upgraded its F-2s—which it stopped producing in 2011—to carry medium-range AAM-4B radar-guided air to air missiles.

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Japan’s Air Force is also procuring Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jets. It currently has 42 F-35s on order, but has said it could purchase more of the jets if the price falls. The F-35s will be used to replace some of Japan’s aging fleet of Mitsubishi F-15Js.

Zachary Keck is managing editor of The National Interest. You can find him on Twitter @ZacharyKeck.

7 Apr 2015

Night Sakura, Tokyo, April 2015

by | posted in: Saitama, Spring | 0

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Night Sakura, Tokyo, April 2015 – Last weekend we took the opportunity to visit a new yakiniku restaurant and attend a local night sakura viewing festival. Hanami time is so far one of my favorite times of the year in Japan. The trees are beautiful, the temperatures are rising and you can feel the eagerness an d light hearted feeling of everyone around you as we all know spring is coming into bloom and summer will soon be here. We made our way to the park and as we approached we could see the first sakura lit only by the night sky of moon and stars. Once in the park lanterns of different shapes and colors were strung across the open areas and also generously amongst the trees. What a beautiful site. The place was fairly crowded on this cool spring night. Families, friends, groups of people from work and school all came out to enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms at night.

25 Mar 2015

Spring is Close and the Sakura Are Coming Alive

by | posted in: Spring, Tokyo, Ueno | 0

Sakura trees are blooming now. Really glad spring is finally coming to Tokyo. We have been lucky as the winter was mild compared to last year…but it has been long. Sometimes I thought it would never end; the cold days and short nights. But on a recent trip to Ueno Park to visit Bentin Summa and see the lake coming back to life…I was surprised to see the cherry blossoms sprouting and the trees filling the twilight with a pink hue against a blue sky. I love this country.