An interesting clip that gives a good idea of the frenetic pace of both TV programmes and construction work in Japan. Featuring the Shinjuku skyscraper district of Tokyo, keep an eye out and you’ll see one of Japan’s most impressive buildings, Tochō.

Click on thumbnails to see enlarged view.

<<01>> All aboard the hanami train! <<02>> View of Kyobashi’s Osaka Business Park behind Osakajō-park’s colourful flora. <<03>> A closer view of the striking 37-floor (157m) Crystal Tower, one of Osaka’s better skyscrapers. <<04>> Petals in the castle moat. <<05>> A view of Osaka from the other side of the park, as daylight starts to fade. <<06>> Reflection of bare cherry trees in a blossom-lined puddle. <<07 - Main Photo>> A beautiful sakura sunset to end a pleasant day of blossom viewing (and of course beer drinking) in Osakajō-park.

Click on photos to see enlarged versions. Captions are below.

<<01>> Arguably Japan’s most famous cherry blossom tree, in Maruyama park. It’s a type of shidare-zakura (weeping cherry tree), which receives the kind of photo attention usually reserved for Hollywood celebrities at film premieres.
<<02>> Well aware of the hordes of tourists who descend on Kyoto during this season, famous Buddhist temples and gardens in the city are keen to exploit the commercial potential with raito-appu (‘light up’ = illuminations). Eager to get on in the act, Nijō castle plastered the city with these posters featuring enticing - and slightly misleading - composite photography. As with other places of historical interest, the Japanese tradition of viewing yozakura (nighttime cherry blossoms) can be enjoyed for a ‘small fee’. (more…)

Click on photos to see enlarged versions. Captions are below.

<<01>> If sakura (cherry blossoms) herald full-on orgiastic appreciation of seasonal change, ume (plum blossoms) are the foreplay that gently warms the Japanese up. Blossoming a few weeks earlier than sakura, ume mark a slight increase in temperature and seasonal excitement, in anticipation of the main event. Here is one of Kyoto’s most famous plum blossom viewing spots, the ume garden at Kitano Tenman-gū shrine. (more…)

The screenshots above are from a video I saw repeated endlessly on jumbo TV screens in Namba and Shinjuku a couple of years ago. Using computer animation effectively, I thought the video was pretty cool (in the kind of sickly-sweet kawaii way you get used to when you’re living in Japan) but was unable to figure out why it was being displayed on screens used exclusively for commercials when it wasn’t advertising anything. Unless, that is, it was being used to advertise some product related to a dancing poodle?

As usual my curiosity got the better of me and I had to Google it. Surprisingly though, I could find no reference to the video I saw on any English- or Japanese-language sites. I did, however, uncover this odd aerobics video which has plenty of dancing poodles - but not the one I was looking for.

A skirt that transforms into a Coke machine to help women evade muggers? Whatever next?

The best things I’ve found on other people’s blogs recently

Above is a photo of the annual display of rice paddy art held in Inakadate village in Aomori prefecture. Pink Tentacle has a selection of photos from this year’s Hokusai-inspired Mount Fuji field, plus some fantastic examples of Inakadate’s previous rice paddy artworks.

As well as reminding me of photos I’d seen of crop circles, these Inakadate photos also brought to mind the photo on the left - a picture of a Hello Kitty tulip display at the Toyooka Flower Show that I saw on BBC News ages ago.

While shopping in the Japan Discount Store the other week I noticed this amusing package. These ‘Ultra Big’ condoms are advertised as being an extra 5mm (yes, 5 millimetres!) longer than regular condoms…

Check out these other unusual photos - the vomit bar, the Harajuku oddball, the claw machine with live lobster prizes and samurai Colonel Sanders.

Not UFO Catcher but Marine Catcher

Here’s something interesting I found recently in Osaka, a claw machine with a difference. Instead of the usual prizes of stuffed toys and suchlike, with this one you can get live lobsters! I can see the novelty aspect of trying to win clawed crustaceans with a game of skill involving a claw, but I can’t help but wonder about the animal cruelty aspect, not to mention how anybody who wins a live lobster is supposed to carry it home in a plastic bag.

Check out these other unusual photos - the vomit bar, the Harajuku oddball, samurai Colonel Sanders and the ‘ultra big’ condoms’.

Overrated hamburgers and Japan’s answer to the Soup Nazi

The Soup Nazi is a memorable Seinfeld episode about a soup restaurant with a reputation for delicious soups whose owner has a fiery temper. Nicknamed ‘the Soup Nazi’ because of the excessively strict rules he imposes on his customers, the owner character was based on Al Yeganeh, a real life New York restaurant owner who was feared by people who came to eat his excellent soups. This episode highlights the paradox that if a restaurant’s food has a great reputation then people will eat there regardless of the service they receive, something I witnessed first hand when I visited Sasebo last month.

The Restaurant
Located near Nagasaki, Sasebo is home to a large US Navy base and this has resulted in a proliferation of hamburger restaurants in the city. Arguably the most famous of these is the Log Kit　(website now offline), its popularity reflected by the number of cars parked outside and the line of people waiting outside. Doubtless this fame can be attributed to the restaurant having been featured on TV along with its female owner, Nobuyo Maruta – ‘the Sasebo Burger Nazi’.
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