Konichiwa from Japan!

[coriana6jp]

Hi,

I have been following this thread for a while, just never get around to posting. I am an American ex-pat who has been a resident of Japan for nearly ten years. I am glad to see you are having a nice trip.

If you find yourself, in the northern parts of the country, (the Sea of Japan side), let me know I would be happy to show you around and take you to some places.

I will second the recommendation, if you have the chance please visit Nara and Kyoto they are well worth the time and effort to get there. I will be spending the Holidays at my inlaws in Shizuoka. I will base myself out of there doing some shooting around Mt. Fuji, and Tokyo. I might go to Kyoto for a day. If you are heading up that way, feel free to drop me an email and I would be happy to take you to some places that I know.

Have a nice visit!

Gary

 

[firecracker]

In Kyoto, there is a Canadian man who does a little geisha tour for English-speaking tourists. He's probably more knowledgable about the geisha culture than other tour guides because he's been married to a Geisha lady, and that's all he talks about during his 90 minute walking tour. I joined his tour with my friends (from the U.S.) last month, and that was a blast.

 

[firecracker]

Jeremy, how's the snow over there? I was in Kyoto today where I didn't see much at all. But its surrounding area and the rest of the country seem to be burried underneath.

 

[Jeremy]

We got some snow last night, but it has all burned off today. Last night we ventured to a teryaki restaurant that did not have English or picture menus so we just randomly pointed.

I ended up ordering a fried rice ball, some sort of pork/stuffing ball, and chicken windpipe! It was rubbery and gristly and not too tasty. Good thing I know how to say "beer!"

After a couple of days of heavy walking with my pack I am starting to wear some holes in my old shoes, so I think I will be going shoe shopping in a couple of days. Also, today will be my rest and relaxation day so probably just a soak for the feet, legs, and shoulders in the tub and then some more photographing down at the wharf.

 

[colrehogan]

Sounds like you are having a total blast! Keep taking pics and sharing your experiences with us.

 

[firecracker]

I ended up ordering a fried rice ball, some sort of pork/stuffing ball, and chicken windpipe! It was rubbery and gristly and not too tasty.

In a barbeque-grill shop, there's usually a whole menu of internal organs such as liver. The great thing is they come in small pieces, and people enjoy the texture. I think some are chewy and hard to bite off, and others are soft and fraky.

I'm not a big fan, either. I can eat liverwurst in a sandwich or a piece of scrapple for breakfast, but that's about it.

 

[firecracker]

I think some are chewy and hard to bite off, and others are soft and fraky.

Flaky, I meant.

 

[Glenn Mathison]

ps: Octopus is very weird tasting!

Hey Jeremy, if you get a chnace, try out an Eel restaurant if you can find one. On one of my trips there my hosts took me to one and it was fascinating. All items on the menu are some derivitive of Eel.

The wierdest was one of the entrees. "Eel spine snacks" Deep fried, salted eel spines. Just like corn chips really . . .

Glenn

 

[Jeremy]

Time for the update:

Good news, I'm still alive! For the first time in about 12 years I rode a bicycle today and lived to tell the tale.

Not much photo news for the day as I only took the 35mm with me and didn't take many shots. I did have a nice day of shopping as I HAD to buy new shoes. In the three days previous I literally walked holes into my shoes and they became mighty drafty.

The new shoes came at a great time as I will be riding with Cassandra to Yashima Plateau to go sightseeing and photographing tomorrow. She has even graciously agreed to take some of load out of my backpack by wrapping up the LF camera in the darkcloth (with all of this wind, the blackjacket is a godsend!) and putting it in her backpack--maybe I can even weasel her into taking some of the holders, too

If you haven't had udon noodles before then also let me say that these things are fantastic! And finally, if you're a slim guy like me, shopping in Japan is a blast as all of the clothes finally fit... until you try on something with long sleeves and the sleeves are about 3" too short

 

[MattCarey]

Hey Jeremy, if you get a chnace, try out an Eel restaurant if you can find one. On one of my trips there my hosts took me to one and it was fascinating. All items on the menu are some derivitive of Eel.

The wierdest was one of the entrees. "Eel spine snacks" Deep fried, salted eel spines. Just like corn chips really . . .

Glenn

I forgot about the spines...

I think thie eel is Unagi. It is very nice.
http://www.bento.com/re_unagi.html

Matt

 

[MattCarey]

If you haven't had udon noodles before then also let me say that these things are fantastic! And finally, if you're a slim guy like me, shopping in Japan is a blast as all of the clothes finally fit... until you try on something with long sleeves and the sleeves are about 3" too short

Udon is a great thing. My older son litterally lived on Udon for a couple of months (I still have half a case of Annie Chun's Udon Soup in my kitchen). Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) is another favorite in my family.

As to the clothes thing--the only "new" clothes I got to try was a bunny-suit for the cleanroom. Since my colleagues knew I was a bit tall, they got me an XXXL bunnysuit. Powder blue too. The sleaves and legs did fit. I probably could have brought your LF gear into the cleanroom inside the suit and no one would have noticed, though!

Again, they were the best hosts ever!

Matt

 

[firecracker]

If you haven't had udon noodles before then also let me say that these things are fantastic! And finally, if you're a slim guy like me, shopping in Japan is a blast as all of the clothes finally fit... until you try on something with long sleeves and the sleeves are about 3" too short

Sanuki-style udon is thicker than other styles, and locals eat at least two servings per meal. It's just that popular. And you don't bite but swallow the noodles and have to make noise if you want to follow the Japanese tradition. I don't think your girl friend would mind you doing that.

About the shoes, the problem is that a lot of shoe stores only carry men's size up to 10 US size, that is 28cm. I've often had a problem with that because for sneakers, I'm 10 1/2.

For clothing, Japanese size is usually one size smaller than the U.S. size, but with different cuts on sleeves and the chest. When you have a too small M size shirt and go up to L, the chest size gets ridiculously big. And some US brands like J.Crew re-design their products for the Japanese fitting sizes.

I've found myself often too fat and my feet too big to fit in these Japanese sizes. Must been the food I ate while I was living in the U.S.

 

[firecracker]

I forgot about the spines...

It says "a calcium supplement snack" on its package, and it tastes like oil.

 

[Jeremy]

Been a while since I checked in, but today I had a once in a lifetime experience...

Ever try to take the portrait of a WILD MONKEY with large format before? I have!!! And I do not mean in a cage, I mean actually wild, walking around, got close enough that he sniffed my face. Shodoshima was wild, but I really should have taken the bus and not WALKED EVERYWHERE with ALL OF MY GEAR! Gods my feet hurt, but at least now I know that I can hike with my gear if need be (it was 15km up to get to where the monkeys were).

I think the numbers come out to be 1000+35mm/digital and 50+ 3x4 sheets. This is an estimate a little on the low side and I REALLY wish I could have shot more LF, but my bogen 3021 with the shen-hao on top just wasn't heavy enough to deal with the huge wind gusts I was getting in many situations.

Oddly enough, when I return to the states I will be taken to a hibachi restaurant for dinner You can be sure that I will be having Mexican food for lunch the day after, though!

 

[David Brown]

Been a while since I checked in...

Where'd ya go? :confused:

Back yet?

Still in Japan?

 

[MattCarey]

Been a while since I checked in, but today I had a once in a lifetime experience...

How goes attacking the pile of negatives? Will we see some images in the gallery soon?

Matt