This photo caught our monkey friend with his mouth open, since he was yelling something about expecting a really big banana for having to pose with these two idiots. Now, anyone who knows me is certainly aware of my affinity for all things simian. Everything is better when you add monkeys, right? So imagine my [...]
Most machiya, including that housing the Nunoya ryokan, include a nice enclosed garden. Finally managing to get out of Saijo for a few days of travel before returning stateside, we spent a few days in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto. We split our stay between a fairly expensive (for our budget) traditional ryokan, and [...]
I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to get this one up on Engrish.com Yesterday was the beginning of the O-bon holiday in Japan, during which most people go home to the countryside to visit their families and pray to their ancestors. That being the case, the population of Saijo has now doubled or tripled, and [...]
In honor of the Willie Winkie bakery’s answering my “needs” with good combustible sandwiches, I have adopted their name as my new euphemism for the male genitalia. There’s definitely been a change in the retail environment here in Saijo since my last visit two winters ago. Just like in the U.S., the big stores are [...]
This Coke machine takes payment via infrared transmission, cellular phone screen reader, or cellphone IC (prepaid?) card. This is in a city with no wi-fi access points. Internet access has turned out to be another technical challenge out here in the countryside. I’d hoped to find a café or library with wireless access available, but [...]
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