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Beerfest!
Jun 15th, 2009
Yesterday wrapped up a popular bi-annual event in Sendai, the Sendai Germanfest. This Oktoberfest-style event takes place in June and September for some reason. Kyoko and I checked it out on Saturday night. This outdoor event was at Nishiki-cho Park downtown and was already well underway by the time we arrived at 6pm.
The beer was pretty good, much better than the Japanese swill that’s served in restaurants and bars, and the food wasn’t overly terrible. Each beer though cost 1300 yen, or about 15 dollars! Nevertheless, I had 3 because it was just so much better than Japanese beer. One of the things I miss the most about Canada is microbrewed beer.
Got a chance to chat with the three German guys who provided the evening’s entertainment. They usually play in the German military orchestra, entertaining their countrymen wherever they are stationed around the world.
Check out the slideshow below, and the video clip of German people playing American music to Japanese people.
A Trip to Yagiyama Zoo
May 25th, 2009
We’ve been meaning to make it up to the zoo since last year, even before we moved to Sendai. It’s pretty good considering its small size, with a variety of birds, reptiles, and animals from all around the world. The primates were particularly interesting; we got to feed some of them, and witnessed a couple fights. Across the street from the zoo is Sendai’s amusement park, Bennyland. Looks more geared for young children, but I’m sure we’ll make the trip there sometime this summer anyways.
Got to play around a little with my trusty little Casio EX-V8 at the zoo too. Along with taking great quality stereo video, you can get a true 14x optical zoom when shooting at 2M. Most of the photos below were taken at the telephoto end of the lens. As you can see the zoom and image stabilization work pretty good for such a small and inexpensive camera. It’s really a shame for consumers that Casio discontinued this line after only 2 models. I got mine though so I guess that’s all that matters!
Yakyu 野球 (Baseball)
May 11th, 2009
One of the things I was looking forward to the most when I got transferred to Sendai was the chance to check out some professional Japanese baseball. Sendai is the home of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Let’s break down the name first. Tohoku is the northern region of Honshu (the main) island. Rakuten is the name of a giant online store in Japan. The Golden Eagles (more commonly known as the Eagles) is the name of the team. Here in Japan teams are named after their main sponsor. It’s a little tacky coming from North America, but at least my local team isn’t named Nippon Ham like Sapporo’s team.
There are 12 teams in Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB), divided into two leagues, Central and Pacific. The Eagles are in the Pacific League, which has a designated hitter like MLB’s American League. In the Central League the pitchers hit, like MLB’s National League. If you remember Mr. Baseball, you know that NPB is pretty different than MLB. In NPB, there can be tie games. NPB is generally less aggressive than MLB, and there is more bunting. The season is almost as long as MLB’s, playing 144 games.
Kyoko and I’ve been to 4 games this season, and we’re also going to 2 games this week. I guess I’m back into baseball, at least the Japanese version. Here are a few reasons why…
The Eagles’ home field, Kleenex Stadium, is not only the softest stadium in NPB but also the smallest, with a capacity of just over 20,000. Because of this there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. Kleenex Stadium is also an open stadium. Watching MLB games in the old Kingdome and BC Place, it never really felt like a real ballpark. Having the sun beat down on you on a Sunday afternoon or sitting under the bright lights on a Thursday evening, being out in the open definitely adds to the overall experience.
Ticket prices. The outfield bleachers, which are general admission, cost around $10-15. The most expensive tickets, behind home plate, will run you around $70. Similarly located seats to a Blue Jays game will cost you $31 and $210 respectively. And that’s for the crappy Blue Jays in the craptastic Skydome.
There’s also a section in the outfield that’s simply a grass field. Bring a blanket and have a picnic while you watch the game and enjoy the day.
Drinking. Japan of course has a legendary drinking culture, and at the ballpark it’s no different. Countless girls dressed in beer logo baseball uniforms endlessly parade around the stadium, lugging mini-kegs of cold beer, chu-hi, or soft drinks. If you prefer to stand in a line, a selection of hot or cold sake can also be enjoyed. Hot for those chilly spring and autumn night games, cold for the summer. Prices range from $4-6.
However, if you don’t feel like paying for your booze, not to worry. Not only are you allowed to bring outside alcohol into the stadium, the staff will happily pour your can of beer into a cup for you! I tell you, it doesn’t get much better than that.
There’s a lot more I can say about the Japanese baseball experience, but for today let’s leave it at that. Below are photos taken from a few of the games we saw last month. There’s also a video of the “7th Inning Stretch“, Japanese-style. Enjoy!
First Trip To Fukushima
Feb 27th, 2009
Back in December Kyoko and I made our first trip down to Fukushima Prefecture. Our destination: Takine, home to Abukuma Cave, the only limestone cave open to the public in Japan.
The drive took about 2 1/2 hours, with most of the trip taken on the Tohoku Expressway. Abukuma cave was only discovered in 1969. About 600m of the cave is open to the public, with another 2500m off limits. Basic admission gives you access to most of the public area; from inside the cave system you can also access some very tight and narrow caves for an additional fee. We coughed up the extra dough so we could crawl under and squeeze around the formations, getting some nice close looks at the intricacies of the limestone. Claustrophobics need not apply.
Near the end of the alternate route we began to hear… music. It seemed a little tacky that they would be pumping tunes into the cave, but the music was sounding quite nice, so we walked toward the sounds…
Upon entering the main cave (“The Takine Palace”) we discovered the source of the music — a brass band! We caught the end of their show, which included some Christmas tunes. Needless to say the acoustics in the cave were amazing. It would definitely be a great place to have a big party, except for the fact that people would probably get too drunk and impale themselves on the stalagmites or something. Check out the video on the sidebar, or click here.
After thoroughly exploring the rest of the Palace we headed back outside to the cold. We considered checking out the planetarium show, but about an hour away there was a waterfall that we see before darkness came…
Tokyo Travels: Asakusa
Feb 14th, 2009
I figured while I’m away in Tokyo right now, I’d get around to posting some photos of my last trip to Tokyo, which was only 6 weeks ago. Asakusa is one of the most popular places to visit in all of Tokyo, by Japanese and foreigners alike. And for good reason. Big temples, a 5-story pagoda, and about 100 tiny stalls lining the main street which are great for picking up souvenirs.
We visited just before New Year’s Eve, so the whole area was even more crowded than usual. People come to pray and bathe in incense smoke, the latter of which is used to cleanse the body and promote good health. Check out the video here, or in the video box on the right.
Another Reason Why NOVA Went Bankrupt
Feb 2nd, 2009
They didn’t have great television commercials like this! (Ah who am I kidding, they were gonna go down no matter what.)
I was doing some spring cleaning this evening, and came across the series of internal memos lies that were sent to all the branches by Monkeybridge and his lapdog Kozai. Brought back some fine memories to be certain. Perhaps the most redeeming facet to working there was that all of us were treated as equals, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or colour. All of us were equally worthless in management’s eyes!
If I get around to it I’ll scan the memos, for old times’ sake…
Beware Deer In Heat
Nov 24th, 2008
I think I’ve visited most, if not all of the sightseeing areas in Miyagi Prefecture over the past 12 months. (Check out the Slideshows in the menu at the top of the page if you disagree!) New ones however keep popping up on the radar. I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon Kinkasan, yet here Kyoko and I were, waking up at 7am and piling in the car to make the trek to the eastern reaches of Japan. Our goal: monkeys and deer…
First a little history. Kinkasan is a small island off the coast of the Oshika Peninsula, in Miyagi Prefecture. Kinkasan was, briefly, a destination for gold mining back in the day. After the gold dried up all that remained were two shrines, built in honour of Ebisu and Daikoku, the gods of wealth. Koganeyama Shrine was built sometime in the 8th century. Legend has it that if you visit the shrine 3 years in a row, you will never have to worry about money for the rest of your life. Looks like I’ll be living in Japan for at least 2 more years!
The island is also famous for the monkeys and deer which inhabit it, and roam freely. These are the same monkeys, macaques, which sit in the hot springs every winter in the Nikko area. Everyone I’ve talked to said that they are quite dangerous, and travel in packs of 20-30… Don’t ask me how they or the deer got to the island in the first place, perhaps the gold miners were lonely…
Anyways. We set off in the mostly trusty Nissan March (think Toyota Tercel) towards the Pacific Ocean. After driving through Ishinomaki we entered the peninsula, which apparently is just a series of hairpin and S-turns. Fun in a nicer car, I’m sure. Eventually we reached the tiny seaside town of Ayukawa, where we would be taking a passenger ferry to the island. The weather was rainy and kinda crappy (think Squamish), so we decided not to hike up the the top of the island. The monkeys would have to wait for another visit.
I don’t know of November being the peak season for anything, let alone hiking; as a result we shared the 50 person boat with the skipper, Gilligan, and one other passenger. The trip took about 20 minutes.
Upon our arrival we were met by a bus which would take us up to the shrines. There’s only a handful of other buildings on the island. A small souvenir store, a couple tiny restaurants, and a concrete hotel that looks like it belongs up at SFU. It was kind of eerie getting off the boat. Change the boat for a submarine and some palm trees and it may have well been the island from Lost. No black smoke though… yet.
As we rode the bus up to the shrines, we started running into the deer — literally. They’re like sheep, cows, or any type of cattle, completely oblivious to the needs of humans. They’ll be sorry when the human race kills itself and won’t be able to feed them tasty crackers, I tells ya.
Getting off the bus, we were greeted by a few deer, just hanging out in the bus loop. Like elementary students at their first dance, the humans and deer grouped on either side of the parking lot, eying each other warily. Kyoko and I decided to hit the shrines first and pray for untold riches.
Prayer rituals vary from place to place; here’s how to do it at Kinkasan. First, toss your donation (a coin, usually 100 yen) into the wooden box. Next, bow twice before the statue. Clap your hands twice, then pray. Finally, bow once more.
After that we walked around for a bit, enjoying the solitude. There’s a few trails that lead up to the mountain summit, but we weren’t really prepared for a hike in the rain. We’ll definitely go back next spring or summer for the hike (and the monkeys).
We checked out the souvenir shop at the bus loop, where you could buy crackers to feed the deer. Immediately upon leaving the shop we were accosted by 3 of them. These ones were very friendly, unlike some that we would encounter later… (to be continued!)
To see the photo slideshow of the shrine and deer, click here.
A Trip To The Aquarium
Sep 21st, 2008
Had 10 days or something off for Obon in early August, so I packed my bags and hit the road. Destination: Akita. Specifically, I was going to go camping for a few days at the Oga Peninsula with Joe, Sayaka, Wade, and some other friends. I headed up one day early to visit some fellow members of the Front Drinking Team. Life was good.
The next morning I awoke to the sounds of a torrential rainfall. We debated calling off the trip as there were flood warnings in the area, but we managed to find a solitary weather report that said we might be okay, so we went for it.
I was going to talk more about the trip, but I gotta go do something else, soooo…
There was an aquarium.
There was a polar bear at the aquarium.
The Japan Sea was beautiful, warm, and clear.
The rocky beach tore my feet up like they were paper mache.
We drank a lot of stuff.