Hot Like Kyushu

It looks like Mt. Fuji is still covered in snow despite the beginning of the "official" climbing season starting this Sunday. Volunteers have been trying to clear the snow to make way for the climbers that traditionally ascend the mountain on the first day. I'm hoping things will warm up substantially in the coming weeks. :\

Mojiko / 門司港

On the weekend I went on another photo trip with a few friends. Jon decided we should check out Mojiko so, on a somewhat cloudy Saturday morning, we drove up and spent the day photographing.

We were a little anxious heading up to Mojiko because it looked like it was going to rain (indeed, it had actually started to rain when we left Hakata) but by the early afternoon, the sky had cleared and we didn't see rain until we drove home.


Mojiko is famous for it's "retro-style" building which, to be honest, didn't actually resonate anything with me because "retro" could mean anything in Japan. As we were approaching Mojiko, we passed by a fairly run-down area surrounded by abandoned factories and houses. At this point in the journey, we weren't exactly sure where we were going so I said to Jon, "Dude, I hope this isn't it." Luckily, it wasn't.

While not a terribly interesting shot, the above photograph is an example of the "retro-style" architecture.


After spending the day walking around and going up the obligatory sightseeing tower, we decided to head into Kokura. We walked around Riverwalk (which, if you've been following my blog since the beginning, is where I took my very first concept photograph) for awhile before settling down in the food court for some dinner. I had steak -- from a -food court-. Yep, only in Japan.


After dodging some Mormons at Riverwalk, we decided to call it quits and head back. It was a long day but I'm glad I was able to just go somewhere to take photographs with like-minded people. I wonder if I'll have that kind of opportunity when I go back to Canada.. ?

Me, Myself & ..

I had a -real- post planned but I caught some sort of bug again. *cough*

In the News

I haven't done one of these in awhile so, I thought I'd better try to fit one in for this month.

It looks like the US Congress is about to pass a resolution demanding Japan apologize, unequivocally, for the use of sex-slaves or "comfort women" during World War II. The resolution is set to pass with support from both parties. You can read the article HERE.

Suppose the resolution does pass? Since it's non-binding and the resolution doesn't really include any material consequences, what's the worse that can happen? My prediction is that it will cause a newspaper fury in Japan, renew calls of "Japan-bashing" in the Japanese media, and Prime Minister Abe reiterating the statement that, "It wasn't 'coercion'." A month or so later, it will be forgotten.

Particulars aside, I think this case is interesting because it represents the limits of "moral power". The US Congress is perfectly willing to indulge Rep. Honda who tabled the resolution, so long as it doesn't actually do anything. It's like one of those resolutions we hear every year about combating AIDS in Africa or reducing greenhouse gases -- empty pledges that are useful as speech-fodder but don't mean much in terms of actual goals.

Is it possible that this "moral bill" will actually provoke a reaction from Tokyo? Perhaps. But probably not in the way desired by Rep. Honda and the "comfort women" he wants Japan to apologize to. I mean, last year alone, US-Japan Trade totaled $193.5 billion in goods alone; unfortunately, in this day and age, no apology is worth that much.

That's it for this week -- it was a humid one.
Take care. :)

En-Kai with a Bang!

Whew. I can't believe how often Japanese people party. I can't keep up with the Sayonara-enkai's (goodbye parties) and general enkai's around this time of year anymore. I've already had to decline a couple of enkai's as well because they overlapped.

Mind you, this isn't a complaint -- merely an observation. In fact, I'll be going to another enkai tonight. Huzzah!

'oogled

Ever wonder what happens when you post something on the Internet? It comes back to haunt you. Not that it's actually happened to me (yet) but I was just talking to my friend about a possible future scenario:

Company Representative: "Well, your resume looks good. You have the qualifications but, we Googled your name and found some comments that you made when you were 15 years old. You appear to be racist. Sorry, we can't hire you."
Me: "Ahh, shucks."

Hey, I know I've said some pretty offensive and "inappropriate" things on this blog -- but for those "in the know", I'm probably the last person that actually believes anything I say (if you do, you're being utterly foolish -- darn it, I did it again. I apologize -- it's an obsessive-compulsive habit; like writing run-on sentences in brackets and putting "quotes" around inappropriate words). Kidding aside, it is a little bit worrisome to wonder if human resource departments already screen applications via Google to see what kind of "stuff" they can uncover. I'm sure most searches are fairly harmless but others, especially of those people in the public sphere, can result in some pretty unfortunate results.

Oh yea, Google owns Blogger -- huzzah! I'm an insta-archived client.

Post Office Blunder

Perhaps I spoke too soon. As I mentioned a couple of days earlier, I had posted a few boxes to send home. I thought everything was swell until a post office worker came by today to ask me for a -detailed- and -specific- list of things I had labeled in my two boxes "Clothes" and "Personal Effects". Of course I didn't remember everything exactly but I did as requested to the best of my memory. I'm a little bit apprehensive it won't go through but it's too late to worry about that now, eh?

A Couple of Things

One of the things I'll miss about working in the Japanese countryside is its beauty. On some days, it's just stunning. While I mentioned that I'm definitely a city-slicker (who uses that word anymore? Right, I do.), it's nice to see the "other-side" occasionally.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have the misconception that Japan is just one giant, urban country made entirely of lasers and concrete; in some ways, it is (re: Tokyo). But, as with anything, there is always an exception. In retrospect, I'm glad I got placed in Fukuoka because in a lot of ways I got to experience the best of both worlds.

My successor is going to have a great time here -- I know I did.

Enjoy the weekend.

"Thank you very match"

My 2 years "teaching" English in Japan is rapidly coming to an end. I went to my first "Sayonara Party" last weekend which was quite sad. I'll definitely miss Japanese beer. I wish I could say I've imparted some basic knowledge of English while here -- but alas, I suppose, given the overwhelming evidence (see exhibit A), I have failed miserably. My apologies. As the Japanese say, "It can't be helped!"

In other news, I got my bulk packing shipped. It was cheap. My advice to current and future JETs moving back home: the bigger the box, the better! You're better off packing things in a big box and shipping it all together than doing a couple of smaller ones. To lighten my load before I leave, I might end up sending one more box -- hopefully everything will stay dry and arrive safely.


I'm pretty sure I seared my eye while taking this photograph. This was the view from inside the moving bus on my way home from work on the weekend.

One more week till the dreaded rainy season is upon us. Ever heard of being drenched in sweat and moisture from just standing? Neither did I till I came here! :)

Like A Merry-Go-Round

These things don't stop! Over and over, and around, around they go. When will it end? Nobody knows!

Pachinko / パチンコ

A pachinko parlor is -the- eyesore of the Japanese architectural landscape. Not only do they look like cheap houses of "entertainment", the vapid souls it lures in with its flashing lights and noisy sirens is itself a study in stupidity if nothing else. Naturally, I was intrigued.

I "smooth talked" my Japanese language teacher to skip class with me and teach me the basics of pachinko. Armed with a thousand YEN (exactly $8.79 CDN), I took the plunge and headed inside my first pachinko parlor. The "game" isn't that difficult to learn. It is very similar to slots. Basically you put money into a machine, small metals balls (see above) drop from some tube into a basket, then you turn a knob to "shoot" the balls into the machine. You have to control the strength of the turn to make sure the balls land and drop at a certain spot. The balls proceed to bounce down the machine, going through various obstacles, until they either land in the "chance net" or, which seemed to happen 98% of the time, they land outside of it. If a ball lands in the "chance net", then a computerized slot screen loads up and the game plays out exactly as if you're playing slots.


This was the best (secret) shot I could get with my keitai camera. My sensei tried pulling the "Gaijin Card" to see if I could take a picture with my real camera -- unfortunately, the management said mine wasn't valid at the time.

Even though we didn't stay longer than 15 minutes (that was the point, actually), it was interesting to finally step into one of these places since noticing their ubiquity. I still believe pachinko is a scam because there is virtually no skill involved to play the game and the odds are stacked -so high- against the player. At least I got some interesting souvenirs out of the experience! :D


In other news, one of my JTEs took me to see fireflies this week. We don't get fireflies in Toronto (at least I don't think we do -- I've never seen any) so, I was fairly curious to see what they looked like. I always imagined fireflies to emit a whitish glow -- in fact, they're green! For some reason they reminded me of glow sticks...

That's it for now -- enjoy the weekend!

It's settled!

And the tickets are booked!

In about a month I'll be ascending Mt. Fuji -- the tallest mountain in Japan -- in what will probably be my last trip in this land of the rising sun. Will I be able to scale the mountain successfully? Or will I be thwarted by Mother Nature and/or old age? Stay tuned for this blog just got a whole lot more interesting...

Japanese TV

I was going to write a blog update but Japanese TV really sucks you in so, here's a photo update instead!