When I first got back to Japan I spent an afternoon in Chiba just trollin' around. I called my sis back in the states for a chat and update. I had to make the phone call short because I saw this guy. Never before had I seen a man wearing shorts so short. And emphasizing his package in such a way. I got the first pic and thought, man, I am never going to see this guy again. What a shame. Then about 20 minutes later I saw him across from me at a crosswalk. And it wasn't even my birthday. I felt bad for cutting the call to my sis short, but these pics made up for it. Enjoy.





And it wasn't even that hot out. But he sure made it hott.

Here are a couple more shots from Harajuku rock-a-billy funtivities.


This lady looked tough, but watch out for the creepy dude in the background.


So much going on in this picture. Where does one begin?



Nothing like chillin' in the park with your homies.

Hello! I went To Harajuku on Sunday to roam around and finally got the chance to see the rock-a-billy dancers. What a sight they were. Click on the pictures to get larger shots of the boys and girl. Yes, there was one woman dancing with them. She looked as tough as the gents. I'll have her picture up soon enough. It was great to see how serious they took themselves. Blasting rock-a-billy tunes through their guitar amps. The last two pics were taken of a seperate group of guys. They seemed to be trying to do more sychronized dance routines. It wasn't really working out for them. Maybe they were tired.

Long time no see! No excuse for me not posting, the doctor said I was lazy. I posted about the Tokyo Game Show awhile back and I have the pictures to prove I was there. It was a lot of fun, though I only played a couple games. The PS3 graphics are pretty damn sweet, but there is no way I can justify spending so much on a game console. There were so many people there it was nasty. At one time there was a bottleneck of people and I felt like plowing over people to get out. The heat coming off of all the people was so disgusting. And the smell. Ugh. The real highlight were the costumes. I didn't recognize most of the characters but damn were they cool.

It has been a long time since my last post. I am here in Japan and still adjusting to everything. I don't have internet at home YET! So I feel so alone! I have to run to the internet cafe near my place and shell out about 5 bucks for an hour. Oh the humanity. I have lots of new pictures to post but unfortuantely they will have to wait. Next weekend is the Tokyo Game Show so I will have some exciting pictures to post from there. In October. Yes, I probably won't get a connection at home until then. Doh. Compared to the previous city I was in, this one is more expensive but more people do speak english which is nice. The gumball machines have been few and far between and the vending machines are nothing special. I have some nice pictures of signs I am looking forward to posting. Here is a link to the Tokyo Game Show homepage. Strangely enough it is located in Chiba. What? See you on the flip flop.

http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/english/

Alrighty, just a mini post here for you today. I wanted to highlight something I thought was pretty cool with some of the vending machines in Japan, point cards! So after you make your first purchase from the machine you push the button and receive a magnetic card. Here is a shot of where the card is dispensed after the purchase.


This next slot is of where you insert your money. There is a coin slot and a slot for ¥1000 bills, just under $10. Just below the slot is where you insert your point card with a small display to show you your current point total.


And what is the purpose of all these points you have been collecting by drinking iced coffee, green tea and other goodies? Let’s take a look at the wonderful prizes!



From what I can gather, the prizes include: instant coffee, a toy truck or car, Hanes flip flops, a coffee mug, a Del Monte t-shirt, a Champion tote bag, Snap-On tools allen wrench set, a Michelin jacket, Pringles inflatable chair, Molten soccer ball, and more coffee. Wow. All for joining Club Dydo point card vending machine happy fun dream time explosion. Word.

Booyah! Here’s another round of machines from the land of the rising sun. These machines were in front of a drug store near my apartment. Near the entrance there were always stacks of diapers and paper towels for sale. From the looks of this picture, to the left of the machine, apparently they sold gloves too. These first two machines were quite the disappointment. I was stoked to see the giant machines in all their glory, but found out they were made of plastic. I felt betrayed and disappointed. How dare they make these machines? Plastic! Anyways, this first one features fake World Cup soccer balls. To get around the copyright it reads something like World Soccer Hard Ball.


This next fake gumball machine has phone straps. The text translates, loosely, Docomo air mascot strap. Why air is in there, your guess is as good as mine. Docomo is a cell phone company that uses this mushroom character as their icon. It really isn't that cute compared to other mascots. For instance, another company uses a lil squirrel with headphones as theirs. Come on, now that is just cute. But this?


More damn soccer balls! I’m guessing the machine on the left appears to be the 5th series of these balls. Where the machine on the right is series 3. I think these are two different manufacturers of balls because the Series 3 text reads World Soccer Super Ball. When I was teaching, I never saw kids with these balls. I just can’t imagine them being so popular that two different companies would feel the public needed super balls with fake World Cup designs this bad. At least the machines are metal.


Now we got some goods here. Fortune Diamond! Another sweet lil charm for your phone or bag. Now my Japanese ain’t too good so what I have to write about this is all conjecture. Each Fortune Diamond is a different color to bring the owner good luck in different areas. If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments. The second machine is the return of the Air Sword! Air Sword II! Compared to Air Sword I, I can’t see any visible difference between the two in construction. But there are 3 new colors available. Sweet. George Lucas should be proud.

Long time no see! Here is a mini post to wet your appetite for gumball machines from Japan. I have been in the states for about the last month having a most wonderful time eating large portions of Mexican food and getting my butt handed to me by my sister in fierce battles of Scrabble (though I am getting good at those seven letter words). I will be returning to Japan later this month and am very excited because I will be closer to Tokyo. Booyah! So I figured before I make the move I should finish up the pictures of the machines I took before I left.

These machines were in front of a video game shop. They sold mostly new games but also had used ones too. Also, they had many slot machines inside, which seemed weird to me. There would be teens hanging out playing slot machines, though I think it was very unlikely they were winning cash. Possibly they would win video games or snacks. There was quite a snack selection inside: ramen, dried squid, chocolate, gum, mints. Dunno. I just love that these machines are blue.




We gots some dinosaurs again.


Then we have something called Training Game. It appears to be a lil logic puzzle type game. They are pretty popular nowadays.


And here we have some charm-type bracelets. I think they collapse so you can put them in your pocket on the go!


How about some Rainbow Springs? Maybe they are like Slinky? Or more bracelets?


And here is a lil peek inside the dinosaur machine. It's nice to catch a glimpse of all the plastic goodness that lies inside.


It took me forever to photograph these gumball machines. For the longest time most of them were broken or empty. Then one day I biked by and saw that they were ready for me. It was a good day, I didn't use my AK.

On vacation! Will be back soon with more pictures!

One more post about Mitsui Green Land. The next couple shots were taken in the safari walk. It was like a treehouse with some animatronic animals and many plaster animals. Here is one such plaster proboscis monkey. Check out that sexy snout.


In the background, you'll notice a giant penguin. That there was the safe haven for the day, called Iceland. It became out favorite place to go during the afternoon because the indoor temperature was -30° C. After walking around in the sun, the cool felt wonderful. I think we went inside Iceland about 4 times.

Japan is a very homogeneous country. Foreigners are few, with blacks being more so in the minority. So cultural sensitivity is not something in the forefront of society. Example:


For a sign warning visitors to watch their step, I have to say it's still pretty darn cute.

Here is one of the animatronic animals in the safari.



Through the P.A. there was a recording of what I imagine was a bear growling and roaring. I think the most frightening part of the bear was imagining the smell. I didn't want to get too close.

This was the log ride of the park. It was pretty fun and scary. Scary because I was afraid the water would eat my skin.


This is a shot of the cave exit. Inside the cave was a giant animatronic snake. Once you exited the cave you saw these guys. Maybe leftovers from the safari?

Mitsui Green Land! Land of green and scary jet coasters (we don't say roller coaster here in Japan). Our first ride of the day was the wonderfully titled coaster.


After a quick Wikipedia search I learned that grampus is another name for orca. Which now makes total sense because the carts for the coaster were....orcas. Grampus sounds totally better and like a cramp your grandfather only gets. It was a mediocre coaster, some good turns, but didn't feel fast enough.

Next up was this beauty. The GAO Jet Coaster.



GAO is, supposedly, the sound a dinosaur makes. At least that's what my friend told me and he looked pretty unsure. This ride was a lot of fun; super fast and loud. Along the ride there were tires attached to the tracks so when the cart passed by it would make a sound, possibly like a dinosaur. It didn't sound like "gao". The scariest part of the ride was getting into the cart. I'm 6" 1' and the engineers really didn't have me in mind when designing GAO. I got into the cart and couldn't sit correctly. I had to sit at a 45 degree angle, with my feet where the other passenger would have put theirs. I flagged down the GAO operator and asked if this was okay, and he motioned that it wasn't a problem. So right from the start it was going to be a scary ride. It was, but lots of fun.

One of the greatest things about Mitsui Green Land was the disregard for copyrights. Throughout the park were Disney characters plastered on snack bars and gift shops. Example:


A blatant rip off of Bambi. It even says Bambi in katakana under the picture. But, what you really don't see is what else is written. Take a closer look.


Yes, it reads Foods Sohp. So sweet.