Cosmos

Cosmos, originally uploaded by bink_d.

These are the classic flowers of fall in this part of Japan. Out in the country people plant fields full fo cosmos and hold cosmos festivals.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory, originally uploaded by bink_d.

More fall flowers: morning glories continue to bloom. Mornings are brisk, but days are still balmy.

Fall Flowers

Fall Flower, originally uploaded by bink_d.

It's impossible to ignore fall anymore, but I still walk past flowers on the way to the bus stop.

Trouble at High School

We all know that Japan has an exam-oriented high school curriculum. What we didn't know was that a lot of high schools were ignoring the compulsory education ministry course guidelines to prep students for the university entrance exams. Schools were spending extra time on subjects covered on the exams: English, Japanese, science, social studies and mathematics, while not giving students required courses in subjects like art, health, civics, and world history. Many educators feel this is unavoidable, but the education ministry has decided that seniors will have to take extra classes before they can graduate.

More on Changing Carriers

There's also trouble in the mobile phone free-for-all. Japan recently introduced number portability, meaning you can change your carrier while keeping your phone number. Au, Docomo, and Softbank immediately came out swinging with new phones and pricing plans. Softbank seems to be the early loser. The company was swamped with new sign-ups and cancellations and had to shut down because its computer system couldn't take the heat. Now it's being investigated by the government because of misleading ads and promotional offers. Softbank stock is also reeling.

Changing Carriers

Yesterday a new day dawned in Japan for cell phone users. Yes, the Age of Portability is upon us. One can now keep his or her phone number when switching mobile carriers. Docomo, AU, and Sotbank have all come out with a slew of new phones and price plans to induce users to switch. Yours truly was tempted to sign up with Softbank to get a Bluetooth phone with a high-resolution digital camera and music player. Softbank will also throw in an iPod Nano at half price when you sign up for their service.

Pricing plans are a mess. I was in the market for some sort of family plan, but the sales rep refused to recommend anything, leafed through a thick pamphlet of pricing options, and suggested that I pick my own. She then told me that Softbank would be announcing new pricing plans on the morrow, but that present plans were available if I signed up now. I then told her where I lived and belatedly found out that my neighborhood was outside the Softbank pale, rendering the whole conversation moot. Softbank may have slick phones and iPods, but they also have lousy coverage in certain parts of Japan. I'll stick with AU, but I still want a Bluetooth phone with a decent camera and a music player.

Google Finally Makes the Top Ten

It's taken six years, but Google finally made it to Number 10 in the list of popular Japanese web sites, hard on the tail of 9th place Amazon.co.jp. The English article is at Digital World Tokyo. The Japanese press release is here. Yahoo! Japan leads the pack, followed by Rakuten, Microsoft, NTT Communications, and GMO Internet. Nifty, NEC, FC2, Amazon Japan, and Google follow in the 6th through 10th spots.

YouTube Purges Japanese Videos

One of the interesting things about the YouTube phenomenon is all the video content from Japan and Korea on the site. The other night we fighting over who would select the next YouTube video. My wife chose installments of a Korean mini-series, My Lovely Sam Soon, a variation on the Bridget Jones theme. She pulled up a version with English subtitles for my benefit. My son watched Ultraman clips. Then we watched a couple of music videos from the '80s. The picture quality wasn't that great and the viewing area was small, but, as my wife said, "I guess we don't need TV anymore. We can watch everything we want to on YouTube." Don't cancel your SkyPerfectTV account yet. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), pulled 29,549 videos off of YouTube because of copyright infringements. Read about it here.

HI_2006107, originally uploaded by bink_d.

I really started to merge with into my vacation once I hit the Big Island. One reason was frequent visits to this thermal pool near Pahoa after snorkeling or swimming in the ocean. We also met some interesting people here--a woman introduced herself to my wife and taught her to swim. No mean feat, since Nobuko has a natural distaste for water, especially if it's not contained in a swimming pool or onsen. It must have been the spiritual pull of the Big Island in combination with soothing temperature of the thermal pool.

The View from the Trolley, originally uploaded by bink_d.

Tired of the Waikiki Beach scene? Cheap (free if you have a JCB credit card) trolleys will take you on a loop that includes the duty free shops and the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Living in Japan always finds a stroll through a U.S. shopping mall enlightening, but next time I'm in Waikiki I'll check out the state capitol complex.

Waikiki Density, originally uploaded by bink_d.

The kind people at Ocean Resort Hotel had let us check into our room early. We showered, piled into the king-sized bed and slept like people who had spent a day wandering around Osaka and then had been crammed into economy seats for a night flight to Honolulu. We awoke in midafternoon. It was time to discover the joys of dining in Waikiki.

We wandered into a Cheeseburgers in Paradise, a nice open-air restaurant located right across from the beach. I remembered that the name had popped up on Google when I had searched for family dining spots in Waikiki. Yes, I was on vacation. My son looked out the windows toward the beach where black silouettes on surfboards bobbed up and down on the sparkling Pacific. Suddenly my wife nudged my arm, "Look, there's no prices for the drinks!"

Yes, there seemed to be a general lack of drink prices on Waikiki menus, although I was unable to conduct a definitive survey. We called our waiter over for consultation on the price of the house microbrew. "About $3.95," was the reply. My wife rolled her eyes, considering the implications of "about".

The W.C. Fields line sprang to mind: "Never give a sucker an even break, and never wisen up a chump." We were prodded to upgrade our burgers with avacado and orders of fries. My cheeseburger, with avacado, and microbrew were adequate, but didn't live up to the setting. We had better food at Tanaka of Tokyo, where again, drink prices failed to make an appearance on the menu. My wife noticed that the locals sitting next to us, inquired about drink prices before they ordered. Not being a local, I went in on the blind and ordered a Kirin for her and a Sapporo for myself. Her Kirin was "about" 5 bucks; my Sapporo came in at $7, but was in a much bigger bottle.

Waikiki Sunset 2, originally uploaded by bink_d.

I shouldn't badmouth Waikiki too much. For a nominal fee you can upgrade your sunset with an outdoor bar, live music, and your favorite chilled beverage. We went to the beach and Ray got his first saltwater snorkling experience. People watching is also superb and there's a slew of restaurants to choose from.

Airport, originally uploaded by bink_d.

We're leaving on vacation on Thursday. Today it's packing, sweating in the heat, and making a cursory effort to cleanup the house. It'll be interesting to see how the new security guidelines work. The airlines still allow carry-on baggage on our flight from Osaka to Hawaii, so at least we'll have some books and toys to entertain my son. We've got two, count 'em, typhoons bearing down on Japan, but we should be up and away before they get here.

Yosakoi is a big summer dance festival in Kochi, Japan. For 3 days teams dance at various venues throughout the city. It's crowded, sweaty, and fun. These pictures were taken in the main shoppping arcade. The dancers are right in front of you and the music reverberates off the walls and ceiling of the arcade.

... See my Tabblo>

The other day I walked over to the daycare and picked up my son and one of his friends. It was incredibly humid. Half way home, the friend stopped at a relative's house to drop off his knapsack. An aunt gave the boys some ice cream and the problem was to get home before it melted. I tried to keep things moving, but as usual, we got held up by playing Ultraman, looking for fish in a creek, and examining things along the road. We rambled through rice fields and a bamboo grove and finally made it home. We were sweating so much that, after throwing the ice cream in the freezer, we all took cold showers.

... See my Tabblo>

Okitsu
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

This is Okitsu Beach on southern Shikoku near Kubokawa. Getting here is half the fun. The road that descends to the beach has 40-something switchbacks and frequently narrows to one lane. The beach has new restrooms and showers though and I've never encountered a crowd scene. Sometimes there's surf, but there are also calmer areas for the kids.

See my Tabblo>

It was as hot as the inside of a pizza oven, so we made another trip to the river with one of Ray's friends and his parents. Ray got to try out his new snorkel, but the real crowd pleaser was the inflatable killer whale.

matsuri
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

Summer festivals come in all shapes and sizes in Japan. This one is small and local, put on by my son's daycare center and the elementary school. There are a lot of games for the kids that involve catching goldfish, fishing for toys, and a contest to see who can shout the loudest. Foods include yakisoba, onigiri, yakitori, and snowcones. The night ends with a short fireworks display--nothing major, but the kids love it.

Mugi Cha
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

It doesn't spring into mind when naming the preferred beverages of summer, but when the summer heat is pressing down on you like a stable of sumo wrestlers, there's nothing like a glass or ten of chilled wheat tea. It's as much a part of the Japanese summer as the drone of the locusts, watermelon, and snow cones.

Play Time
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

The best part of swimming lessons is undoubtedly screwing around on the big styrofoam float. Whenever we go to the pool, Ray immediately makes for the float and wants to play some variation of shark attack.

Swimming Lesson
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

Ray also has swimming lessons here on Saturday with other day care and kindergarden kids. He's almost learned to swim, but hasn't mastered his breathing techniques yet. Once he learns how to breath while swimming he should do fine. The good thing about the lessons is that he's now comfortable in the water. A little too comfortable for my liking; the boy has no fear

The Pool
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

The routine has been to hit the river, then sample the delights of Tosayamamura. On the way back up to the road is a small store. The attraction is the ice cream freezer. After some sort of an ice cream treat, melon ice cream balls or banana bars, we continue onto the pool. The path to the pool leads past the small town library, giving Ray a chance to check out some Ultraman books. Then it's on to the pool. I thought it would be a waste of time, because it's heated and I assumed the water was too hot. Luckily the heat has been turned off and the water is refreshing. In the afternoon the pool is usually deserted and Ray and I have the place to ourselves.

PICT0008.JPG
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

Ray has been eager to catch some minnows ever since he saw the neighbor's collection. He has a lot of minnows and goldfish in large ceramic basins outside his house. The fish are hard to see because of all the aquatic plants. Ray goes up to guys house every night in the hopes that he can borrow the neighbor's small hand-net and catch some fish.

Kagami River in Summer
Originally uploaded by bink_d.

Here's the nearest swimming hole to the house, the Upper Kagami River at Tosayamamura. Water is high this year because of the prolonged rainy season, but there's a small gravel beach to put your stuff on and plenty of shade. The water is surprisingly cold and takes awhile to get used to. Ray seems more interested in catching minnows or crabs than swimming, but once you're wet, the summer heat evaporates. You can stand on the bank, look down the river and feel the cool breeze that blows down the valley.

Vacation at Last

The new job mix was intense, including working Saturdays, a lot of prep work for the classes at KWU, and a quick, spring trimester at the high school. Suddenly, about 10 days ago, high school was over and they pulled the attendance book from the teachers' room, meaning there's no need to show up unless you absolutely have to. I gave my last test at the university the same day. Suddenly the miasmal rainy season was over and the weather changed to hot, sunny days with thunder storms in the evening. It's too hot to think, or do much else, so what better time to had for the river?