Tag: Japan

#ArtOfRunning: Recovery in Ishinomaki

A repost from my site http://josephta.me My latest Art of Running project saw me back up in Tohoku, the region of Japan so badly hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. During last month’s trip to Sendai for TEDxTohoku, we made time to visit Ishinomaki, a fishing town that had both industrial and residential areas […]

Ritz-Carlton Tokyo project: Suta-to!

Today was a very good day. It started off as most Monday’s do – volunteer work at city hall. I went extra early today, in order to finish early and meet George an hour before our lunchtime appointment at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo re. Japan Podshow – George and I deserve a break at the end […]

The Grand Sumo Tournament

Today, myself and a couple of friends from Sheffield Uni +1, headed on down to the Grand Sumo Hall in Ryougoku, on the JR Sobu line just east of Akihabara.It’s day 9 of one of the six annual Grand Sumo Tournaments held throughout Japan. It’s the first time I’ve been to see a sumo tournament. […]

Tokyo Photo Run: Setagaya

This morning I did my second random photo-run, this time heading north of home. As with my last run, I stopped along the way to take photos – many at a Buddhist shrine. You can view this trip in 3D, with embedded photos, by opening this file in Google Earth. This is very cool! Photo […]

Interviewing Arudou Debito

Arudou Debito by Alfie Goodrich. Special thanks to Alfie for taking this photo – for more of his work visit www.alfiegoodrich.com Earlier today I finally managed to post my interview with Arudou Debito, recorded a week or so ago at the Foreign Correspondents Club Japan. It was a lot of work, but well worth it […]

Video: Joseph and *Twinkle*s trip to Yamaki Jouzo

In our first video podcast collaboration, *Twinkle* and I take you to Yamaki Jouzo, an organic farm located about 2.5 hours from Tokyo in Kamikawa-cho, Saitama (accessible by train to JR Honjo and then bus) [Google Map]. This video was originally going to be a Japan Podshow episode, but in the end we were unable […]

Video blog: Edogawa Ekiden (relay race) and more

It’s been a looong day. In the morning I joined Tom, Nami and Phil to run the Edogawa Ekiden (relay race). Things didn’t quite work out as planned for us personally, so I thought instead of focusing on our story I’d share with you some footage of the various characters we met throughout the event. […]

Video: Japan is not all skyscrapers and concrete

Yesterday, I made a trip to see my friends and Mrs. Bibi in the hills of Saitama, a couple of hours by public transport from where we live in central Tokyo. Getting off the bus at the end of what had been quite an exciting journey there (I finished editing a video on the train […]

Video Exclusive: Susan Boyle sings live on a Tokyo commuter train

Having bought the most amazing computer in the whole world ever, I realised I needed to push myself beyond the confines of email and random web surfing, and into production, in order to justify the financial outlay. This happened to coincide with that gala event at the Tokyo Hilton, at which I was seated on […]

No Foreigners

Yesterday was a pretty good day. My MacBook was returned after its third major operation, and late in the afternoon I was able to spend a couple of hours on the roof of the 53-storey Mori Tower in Roppongi, watching the sun set. It was marred by two things though, the first of which was […]

Any excuse to play with fire

After a session at the Gym with Tom this morning it was back home, get changed, then out again for the English lesson I have every Sunday (I’m the teacher, not the student). On my way through the park in front I couldn’t help but notice a gathering of hundreds of local residents, all of […]

Nail Job

I used to think that having fake nails was a sure sign that you had finally become a slave to modern fashions, sacrificing your ability to do practical things like pick loose change up off a table, or scratch your arse without the necessity of thought. However, having now spent several hours looking at fake […]

Kobe Luminarie

Last week whilst in Kobe on Christmas Party business, we had the chance to see Kobe’s incredible Luminarie. They say that this is the last year they’ll be doing it …although they say that every year! “Kobe Luminarie (神戸ルミナリエ, Kobe Luminarie?) is a light festival held in Kobe, Japan every December. It began in 1995 […]

Don’t unchi

Recent breakthroughs in Brainy Animal Research Kommunications technology (or BARK for short) has enabled residents in Tokyo’s Meguro-ward to enroll their dogs in new reading and writing classes. The move is part of an effort to educate the canine community in street manners – notably those connected with unchi (poos). Here we see one of […]

Please do it at a pub

What I want to know if why has the salary man replaced his eye balls with golf balls? (This is one in a series of posters on the Tokyo Subway encouraging good manners. See the whole series here)

Yet another iPhone post

(if you’re not interested in it or Apple customer service, look away). Two nights ago my iPhone suddenly had an emergency breakdown. Somehow the OS became corrupted, and the only way to fix it was to connect it to my mac and let iTunes try its best counselling skills. The only problem was, iTunes couldn’t […]

Laser eyes, the work, the friends and the MCs

You find me sitting in the waiting room at the Shinagawa Laser Eye Clinic in central Tokyo. …feeling queasy. *Twinkle* has just been taken up to the 15th floor to have her eyes done, leaving me in the big waiting room on the floor below, stuck in front of a TV showing an instructional video […]

Name that Root Veg

Ok then, here’s a little research project for you: what are these? They are labelled “Kogashira” in Japanese, and I have no idea what they are. Answers on a postcard, or in the comments section. 🙂 – EDIT – Thank you for the feedback, both to Bibi and to mum no.2 and her extended network. […]

‘Free’ broadband in Japan

One thing I’ve really enjoyed since arriving back in Japan is being able to watch online videos without having to make numerous cups of tea in order to pass the time they take to buffer. The throttled connections we had at university were probably amongst the slowest in the UK, slower even than my parents’ […]

Using an iPhone in Japan – where it falls down

If you’re not interested in the iPhone, don’t bother read this – just click here instead. I got my iPhone 3G about four hours after arriving in Japan. Being gadget boy, I’d wanted it since launch day, but it would have been a bit daft to get it on a two year contract in the […]

Himonya Matsuri

Seems that the mini-procession yesterday was just a warm-up for today’s festival. The chap with his back to us is hitting two sticks together to keep the team in time I like the contrast in this one Check out the little kiddies hitting the big drum More photos on Flickr

The procession – from behind

A few photos taken today on the streets around our house *Twinkle*s off to Kansai for a few days. It’s going to seem quiet around here…

The first 7 days

I had grand plans to document my arrival back in Japan both on this blog, and on a podcast. It’s not going to happen though – at least not yet. I’ve found it a lot more difficult to settle in than I’d anticipated. One main stress factor has been money – or lack of money. […]

Japan from above

A few more photos from the flight: First sighting of the Japanese coast (near Niigata) A lot of people tend to associate Japan with skyscrapers. However, about 80% of the land-mass is mountainous (that’s mini-mountainous on the whole). Here’s a couple of shots of what I consider to be ‘typical Japan’. And finally, Japan from […]

My first few days in Japan – a quick update

So much to write about, so little time. It’s all good. Last week I sent off an email to a training company that a friend of mine works for (it was actually wanting to work for them that promoted me to take the CELTA course). Today I had an interview, and I believe I’ll be […]

Hello from Tokyo

hello hello, brief update from amongst the piles of *stuff*. It’s so good to be back with *Twinkle*. Things are better than ever. Interesting how marriage has changed the relationship (in a good way). We moved into our new apartment. It’s small, and suffers from damp, although that should improve once the heat passes. Good […]

Goodbye to England, and Hello to my sister

Here we are then, all set. My big bag is now down to 23kg, my two carry on bags about 500kg each. I’ve checked in online – seat 40k, just behind the right-hand wing, by the window. It’s been a really ‘full’ day. It’s featured a lot of packing and repacking, backing up data, eating, […]

Needed: Advice on paying tax in Japan

I was wondering if anyone out there can give me some advice, or point me in the direction of a reliable information source, regarding tax and insurance in Japan. Until now, when working in Japan my income tax has always been sorted out by my employer. Also, as I have never stayed there for a […]

Oh So Nearly There

oh yes, things are good. I passed my final CELTA assignment on first submission (yay!), now just planning my final lesson (featuring Mr. Bean; he’s a real global celebrity), for delivery in about 20 hours from now. We have a wee bit more to do on the Friday, but it’s not going to be too […]

Date set for departure for a new life

This morning I decided to have faith in the international postal service and the Japanese embassy in London, and buy my flight to Japan, despite not having yet applied for my visa, or having yet received the documents I need from Japan to apply for it. Having been granted student status again I was able […]

Married for the second time in a month

As mentioned on Twitter this morning, *Twinkle* and I got ‘married’ again today. I was in bed, asleep in the north of England. *Twinkle* was in her local town hall, Japan. I was happy (I mean even happier) All she needed was our original wedding certificate, my original birth certificate and copies of my passport. […]

Mish-mash

Seems like the Internet doesn’t like wet weather. It;s been gradually dying as the mist has set in tonight. It happens in Wales too. After a heavy rain shower, one has to disconnect the router from the mains and put it in the tumble drier for a while. Skype has been fun. I’d call someone […]

Japan: Exchanging a Tourist Visa for a Spouse Visa

Remember that time I was going to the immigration office in Tokyo on a weekly basis to try and get my visa status sorted? It lasted quite a while, and featured lots of vagueness. This morning I phoned the immigration bureau in Tokyo. They have an English homepage which advertises their helpline – operators can […]

Holiday Day 2: Up into the mountains

What a fantastic day it’s been. Joseph is a very happy boy. It all started at 8am, when I was woken by Twinkle treading on my foot. Her mum’s apartment is Japanese you see, i.e., small, thus the three of us were squeezed into the single bedroom, with my feet by the cupboard with all […]