Needspic on Nanikore

Some photos - September 2012

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 07:28:41 +0000

It’s been a while since I stuck a small gallery up on here, so I took a few random photos from the library to put up. They’re from a few places, mainly the Shonan coast here in Japan and a recent trip to Guam where I took a few photos from the beaches and from some attractions around the place.

湘南ベルマレ　１−１　東京ヴェルディ

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:43:40 +0000

Last night we went down to the BMW Stadium in Hiratsuka for a family night out to see a live football game between the local team - Shonan Bellmare - and visitors Tokyo Verdy. It was a very decent night out all told - the stadium is in a nice park and there was a lot of stalls almost like a mini-matsuri outside, selling shaved ice with fruit syrup, beer and a decent array of snack foods. The stadium is a nice, if somewhat Soviet-era looking concrete construction which apparently can hold around 18,000, but it felt plenty full with last night’s attendance of 9,370.

Shonan play in J2, the lower of the two Japanese professional leagues, but that’s OK - my local team in the UK isn’t exactly top flight, but that doesn’t stop an entertaining game, and the crowd were treated to some good football for 90minutes, and even two well taken goals in the second half giving the final scoreline of 1-1. Points have to go to the Verdy fans who put up a solid 90minutes of drums and chanting, and at least from where we were sat, drowned out the locals.

It’s been a while sine I’ve been to a J League game actually, though I always watch games when I go back to the UK, and whilst the support style might change around the world, the community feeling on the terraces and the appreciation of the play seems fairly constant. I have to say though, watching an evening game 3Km from the Pacific Ocean in a t-shirt and shorts contrasts oddly to Boxing Day games in the north of England.

Bottom line: if you’re in Japan, and you haven’t checked one out, go and see a J League game, and if you’re visiting, put it on your to do list.

I didn’t take many photos as I was assisting in keeping the kids under control as it was their first ever live football game, and whilst my eldest said she liked it, she was tired after 75mins., and my youngest spent some time with one of us walking about as he was fascinated by the stadium and all the people.

A few photos from April 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:31:44 +0000

I’ve been a bit busy of late and so haven’t written any posts, and I think that’s going to be the situation for a while yet due to now being in the middle of a few things. However, I thought I’d update with a few photos from April 2012.

The Road To Shiga 2012

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:47:49 +0000

Last month, the family once more hit the road to go up to Shiga in Nagano Prefecture to get a few days skiing and snowboarding in.

Compared to last year, a few things on the technical side had changed - this time we were in a Toyota Ractis since our beloved Vitz was written off by someone who just didn’t seem to understand traffic lights. The Ractis is slightly bigger, so was a bit more comfortable for all the hours on the road, but because of that, we had to buy some new snow chains. I’m not completely sure, but I think Carmate, who make the Biathlon car chains we used last year, have changed their product mix a little, since the most easily available model in their lineup was the ’ Quick n Easy'.

One other change was that our son had outgrown his 0-12 month baby seat, so was now in a 12month - 11 year combination seat which we were a little unfamiliar with as we’d only installed it a few days prior, but it worked out very well, and he seems to love it. It’s the Aprica ’ Euro Impact Junior 01’, and no, I don’t know who comes up with the names for these things; the ‘Euro’ part though I suspect comes from the fact that it supports ECE R44.0 4, a European originating safety standard that all child seats now have to, or want to support.

Armed with all this, we set off from Kanagawa-ken, managing to be on the roads early, with ETC set up, a route in the navi, the kids well occupied (or asleep), and the usual rampaging DJs on FM Yokohama, we were away.

We kept to a stop every 90 mins or so, mainly for toilet breaks and such, to let the kids get out, and for additional tea breaks for the drivers - I’m apparently lucky that my wife doesn’t mind driving, so she took on the first third of the journey. Of course, as you get further up to the mountains, you eventually get to the snow line, and all the ice and fun which comes with it. We actually had to stop a few kilometres earlier than we did last year to put the chains on, and true to form and the couple of practice goes I’d had, the chains went on no problems at all - in fact, I think they were easier than the Biathlons we had last year. If you’ve never driven with chains, especially on real mountain roads with a decent amount of snow, it is a very fun experience, providing you keep the speed down. I should say that going up a mountain always feels safer than coming down.

The hotel we chose was right at the end of the road we were on so at least we knew we couldn’t miss it. We got the booking sorted out through Snow Japan, a bit like we did last year, but for reasons I’ll explain later, I don’t actually think that route is really worth it. The hotel was the Okushiga-Kougen hotel, and we got a decent price on a family sized room, with breakfast included, and I’d read the breakfast was pretty good. So, to do the hotel review first: it *is* a good hotel - the staff were relatively efficient, the wi-fi (only in the lobby area) worked as advertised and got a decent throughput, and the carpark is right in front and fairly well sheltered and maintained, so I had less snow digging to do each morning. The breakfast was very good for a Japanese ski hotel, a decent western and Japanese buffet, with good sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs which weren’t swimming for a change. The down side is that all other meals are horrifically expensive - the dinners start at 2,500 for a child’s set meal, go to a basic adult meal for 4,500en, and top out at 12,500en for a deluxe course. These prices are out of our range. What we learned are that for lunches and dinner it’s much better for quality and cost to either pop around to the Prince Hotel Shiga West, or over the road to the Hotel Grand Phenix, which oddly is an expensive place to stay, but reasonable to eat. The Italian restaurant there does a fantastic rabbit dish.

All of the Okushiga hotels are at the bottom of the slope, but let’s get something out of the way - the area is skier only - no snowboards are allowed. We chose the place though because our eldest is learning to ski, and the ski school there is excellent, reasonably priced, and even will sell you digital copies of some on piste photos of the kids for a small amount. When we were there, there were no other students. The ’no boarder’ attitude, combined with some of the pricing means it’s pretty quiet, and the average age of people there is over 60 as far as I could tell. We simply put the eldest in ski schools in the mornings, which she loved, and then drove to Yakibitaiyama around the corner, where our youngest could play in the creche, and we could get some boarding done. I should also point out Okushiga does have a creche, but only on Saturday and Sunday, which was a minor fact they didn’t mention when we called in advance to confirm facilities.

The Okushiga Kougen hotel then worked out very well once we sorted the food sourcing out, and the onsen was clean, and the TV, though an aging CRT with a digital converter literally bolted to it, did allow us to use the audio/visual cable for the iPod so my daughter could watch her shows, which is invaluable when you’re a little bit confined for space. The in-room bath was also a little bigger than many other hotels, though still technically a unit bath/toilet room.

A notable experience for me on the snow side of things that was the first time I got to ski with my daughter, going up on the chair lift together and coming down and I have to say I was very impressed, though I think she was irritated with the grip I had on her on the chair lift, given she was quite relaxed.

When not on the slopes, we could play with the kids safely at Okushiga, though the snow is so powdery, it was difficult to make a snowman.

Coming back was as simple as going, but again, going downhill always makes me think a little bit, and we passed one person coming up who was sliding all over who apparently thought that normal road tyres on an SUV would be enough - it’s not.

As usually, we sent all of our boards and skis via Takkyubin, which is always the simplest way to do it. Perhaps next year we’ll try a roof gear holder for them.

Booking via SnowJapan used to get some decent discounts, but now I really don’t know since the prices we were quoted on the phone with hotels was the same as via their site, so aside from driving some traffic I’m not sure where the value is any more (and the SnowJapan make-over with Silverlight hotel finder was perhaps ill advised).

In all then, a massively successful trip for the whole family, and we managed to make use of all the lessons we learned last year, and learned a few for next year, as we wont be able to make another this year due to a stream of other commitments. I also got a nice ‘yuki 雪’ sticker for my old Macbook.

New Header Photo: Feet In the Ocean

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:26:56 +0000

After five months with the excellent Alabaster Heads as my header image, I’ve decided to change it. I have to say though, that my photo of Jaume Plensa’s installation at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park got more hits and searches than any other header by a long way. If you haven’t seen them in real life, then seek them out.

The new header image is far less artistic or ambitious - it’s my feet in the clear waters of the Pacific Ocean at Shimoda on a recent visit to Ernest House. I’m wearing my Keen hiking sandals, and it was toward the end of a couple of great days, and it was nice to just stand in the water and watch the waves. I thought it made a nice ’end of summer’ image, as we go into Autumn 2011.

Dog Day (犬の日)

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 17:39:12 +0000

The subject of religious days in Japan can be fairly complex as most are a fusion of indigenous Shintoism, Bhuddism and whatever else was around, so if any of the following is not 100% correct to some, then my apologies in advance.

That said, one of Japan’s main religions is Shintoism, which is a mainly animistic/nature - based religion, based on the concept that kami (deities or spirits) are a part of most things, and should be worshipped in accordance with certain times of year and requirements.

As my wife is expecting our first child, she’s chosen to observe Dog Day (’ Inu no hi’), which is every twelfth day in accordance with the Chinese calendar, known mainly around the world for its designation of years by animals. There’s also the concept that this should be done in the fifth and ninth month of pregnancy, so on June 2nd, there we were at Suitengu Jinja in Tokyo, ready to get prayed for.

Why dogs? It seems it’s believed in many cultures that dogs are thought to have very easy deliveries of many puppies, so on this day you call to the deity for dogs to deliver a healthy baby as easily as possible.

The first part requires you to wash your hands correctly from ladles in the water founts in the shrine yard, washing your hands, then mouth, then hands again, before going to have the mother-to-be’s name (and age - shock!) written in calligraphy style on some paper, and then join the queue with other pregnant ladies to be prayed for.

Every half an hour whatever group has amassed are taken to a private part of the shrine, where a monk carries out individual prayers for each woman, calling out her name, and praying for an easy, safe delivery for her and her baby.

I wasn’t there for this part, as it’s women only (and the monk I suppose), but I’m told he did a double check of our katakana name that had been thrust in front of him, as, looking around the shrine for the hour or so we were there, there wasn’t much of an international contingent.

In fact, it was just me, smiling, bowing, and observing the security guards gently moving the women in the queuing area. Really, how much security do a bunch of pregnant women and grand-parents really need?

Later, having been prayed for and looking very happy about it, my wife emerged, to pick up her ’ fukutai’ ’ omamori’ and ’ ofuda’ from the shrine workers. Each of these plays a part of the Dog Day ritual, away from the shrine.

The ofuda looks like a small folded envelope, tied around the middle, and is to be kept in the family residence (i.e. our apartment) until after the birth, in a high place facing south.
After the birth this will be returned to the shrine with a gift as thanks.

An omamori is a small material pouch used as a talisman to protect. In this case, it should be placed inside the fukutai which I’ll discuss next. The only caveat with an omamori is that they should never be opened. In true Japanese spirit, I notice someone has opened an e-omamori site!

The fukutai is a belly wrap, a long piece of material the mother wraps around her ‘bump’ for a day, placing the omamori inside it. Generic fukutai can be purchased for everyday use, as they’re seen as practical for assisting back support (something my wife would appreciate). However, this one should be worn for just one day, then used to make baby clothes (but not nappies) or something positive for the child.

So, with these items in hand we passed by the small bronze statue of a dog and it’s puppy which is also often touch for good luck too, and left to place everything in our apartment.

I have to say, it was an interesting morning out, and though I am not affiliated to any real belief system, this did fulfil one requirement I have for these things, be it, Shintoist, Christian, Muslim, or whatever, in that it’s a supportive rite, which people genuinely believe helps them and makes them happy. Certainly can’t say fairer than that.

Original Comments

Comments from the original WordPress blog post.

Paul Brown — 2006-06-12

Congrats on the baby (although I do find the mental image of a “mini Graham” a little disturbing). Babies are basically very mush like small drunks - emotional, inexplicably angry, incapable of communication and prone to throwing up. Just think of the next few years like trying to get Steve Tolley home from Gullivers and you’ll do fine ;)

All the best,

Paul

graham — 2006-06-13

Thanks Paul. All I can say is that we’re hoping the new arrival takes more after the wife in terms of looks, and definitely in the sun resistance stakes!

All the descriptions I’ve had seem to tie up with what you say there. A bit of a mini student but without the kebab smell. or maybe I speak too soon.

Ladies Only Carriages

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 01:56:19 +0000

This was a picture I took with my keitai last December when I went to Osaka, but I forgot to post it. Anyway, it’s given me an excuse to create the 2005 gallery folder.

Basically, it’s the sign for where to queue for women only carriages on trains in Osaka. Taken at Osaka station. I only mention it, because I’d heard of these things, but it was my first time to actually see one. Apparently Osaka has a bigger chikan problem than Tokyo.

Original Comments

Comments from the original WordPress blog post.

Hiro — 2005-01-08

The Shinjuku line Subway has a women’s only carriage as well. I believe this turns into the Odakyu line. I just noticed these signs last month when I was back in Tokyo for a visit…

graham — 2005-01-11

Thanks Hiro. I was wondering at the station whether this is a good ting or a bad thing. Undeniably it’s a sad thing. I wonder whether these signs and train carriages just make more convenient targets.

South Korea

Sun, 31 Oct 2004 12:19:08 +0000

We’ve just got back from 3 days in South Korea. I’ve uploaded a few (85!) pictures in the gallery here. [ Update: Sorry, the gallery has gone. I’ll try to get around to reposting!]

It was the first time in Korea for the both of us, and with only a limited amount of time we decided we wanted to see day-to-day Seoul, some of the tourist bits, and the De-Militarised Zone [DMZ] between North and South Korea. I’m writing a full travelog to post on the Brightblack site later this week, so I’ll just put the highlights here.

Seoul is a great city - not as intense as Tokyo, but with lots to see and do, and with a lot of cool places to eat and drink. We took in some of the historical buildings, as well as trying the local teas which are excellent (I recommend the plum tea). The underground system was very cheap and efficient, and even though the trains were spacious and modern, the ticket machines were a little less friendly. We also checked out the insanely large and modular shopping district, as we had to buy a few items of clothing to meet the dress code to go to the DMZ.

The DMZ

The DMZ trip is only do-able on an organised tour, and I use the word ‘organised’ very loosely. An hour north of Seoul and you’re pretty much at the DMZ border, after a stop for lunch and a look at Freedom Bridge and the very odd fun park there, and it’s off inside the DMZ itself to the Joint Security Area [JSA] on the actual cease-fire line where North and South meet. We didn’t think we would be let into the meeting room itself, where north and south sit down together, but literally at the last minute we were allowed, under guard and only for a few minutes.

However, I can say that I’ve stood in North Korea! It’s a very quiet and very weird place. Beautiful and yet quite sinister. We were escorted closely by UN/US/Republic of Korea soldiers at all times and told when and where we could take photos. The dress code was enforced - you can’t go near the JSA in jeans, so those people had to wear ’loaners’ from the troops there.

The guides gave us detailed instructions on where to go, as we were bussed around the 3 linked camps which make up the UN force’s presence in the area. They also detailed the spot where two US soldiers were axed to death by North Koreans in the mid Seventies as they were guarding contractors who were chopping a tree down which was obstructing the view of the observation post from one of the other ones.

It’s an odd place - the DMZ fence, 2km away on either side from the true cease fire line, is all barbed wire, minefields and anti-tank blocks, but the ‘Military Demarcation Line’ is just a line of posts, and some rusted signs on the bridges, so it’s easy to see how someone could stray across, and if you did, as was pointed out, you’d be dead. As you can see in the photos the ROK soldiers look tough, they stand in a TaeKwonDo ready stance at all times, facing off against the North Koreans, who whilst we were there was one guy on the steps, rifle slung over shoulder. All in all, ’enjoyable’, but quite surreal.

As for Korea, it’s an excellent place, and well worth making the trip to if you’re in the region, and check out real gimchi (spiced cabbage) which is great. The people were very friendly and helpful, and if you speak a little Japanese and English you can pretty much get round everything (most tourists are Japanese from what we could tell). Anyway, go and take a look at the pics!

Needspic on Nanikore

Some photos - September 2012

湘南ベルマレ １−１ 東京ヴェルディ

A few photos from April 2012

The Road To Shiga 2012

New Header Photo: Feet In the Ocean

Dog Day (犬の日)

Original Comments

Ladies Only Carriages

Original Comments

South Korea

The DMZ

湘南ベルマレ　１−１　東京ヴェルディ