Miscellaneous Print: PUBLIC TOILET ≠ ASHTRAY

An advert at a pachinko parlor. (Update: This guy is a narcissistic idol named Hiromi Go who did a Japanese version of Livin’ La Vida Loca. Click his picture to visit his home page)

Where to, boys? To the FUTURE! I love their facial expressions

Authentic hillbilly music….Japanese style

Me too.

PUBLIC TOILET = PUBLIC TOILET

This Indian Curry is best prepared with buffalo meat and lentils.

Nowhere near me, please.

Shiga on a Snowy Sunday

Several weeks ago my friend Chuck borrowed a big van and six of us drove north of Kyoto into the snowy mountains of Shiga Prefecture to visit Chuck and Tomoko’s friends, Yoko and Muneo, who are both potters and recently moved into a one room cabin they built in the woods. The night before it had snowed heavily, and when we arrived everything was covered in a beautiful, pristine blanket of snow. We ate stew and apple pie, drank hot tea as we warmed ourselves around the wood burning stove, and, of course, we had wicked snowball fights.

Another fine example of trust in Japan

This is a station on the Eiden line in Kyoto. This is another fine example of the Japanese honor system. These pictures were taken from outside the station. Notice the relative positions of the ticket vending machine and the “turnstile.” In the first picture you can see two people purchasing tickets for the train. In the second picture they are waiting for the train. Is there a problem here? Apparently not

ごめん有記！

She’s cute as a button, isn’t she? She’s going to kill me too for publishing her pictures on the internet….

Killing time

On Tuesdays I have a thirty minute break between lessons. I often get a snack at the local Family Mart and stare at the kaleidoscope screen down the street from the cafe my second lesson is at. It’s sure a great way to kill time.