pilgrimage to the world of Studio Ghibli in Kochi

"Ocean Waves" (in japanese, 海が聞こえる umi-ga-kikoeru) is one of the least known animation movie that the Studio Ghibli produced in 1993. its about a love-story between a high-school boy from Kochi and a girl from Tokyo living in Kochi.

in the end of september, i could make a kind of business trip to Kochi (although it wasn't, because a. its really not a business, and b. it was canceled due to typhoon attack lol). as i had plenty of time to spend there (as, again, the event i was supposed to participate in was canceled) yet it was not really the best time to enjoy sightseeings (because of typhoon), what i, as a huge Ghibli fan, could come up with was naturally to pilgrimage to the world of "Ocean Waves."

i thought the plan was better than perfect, shinier than diamond. however, there was the slightest but a huge problem about the plan, which is that I DIDNT REMEMBER NEXT TO NOTHING ABOUT THE MOVIE!!! this fact made it really difficult to accomplish my plan. SO, i ended up heading to only the high-school.

if i got another chance to visit Kochi, i will definitely try some role-plays there. 

how we prevent possible conflicts with the neighbours

the tension between japan and china and japan and korea has been rising dramatically recently due to some islands I've never been to or I've never even cared about. these islands must be quite important from resources' point of view, but i really can't imagine myself being affected by their owner. 

regardless of my lack of imagination and my indifference, many people in china seemed to get pissed off and some japanese firms there were burned and destroyed. however, apparently china cannot reach its fangs to our soil. Why? 

the answer is simple. because our land is protected by GUNDAM! (as i posted before)

but there is a slightest possibility that the other neighboring koreans are looking for an opportunity to attack us as well while our national hero is busy fighting against china. but there is no worry about it. WHY???

the answer is again super simple. we have another hero residing in Kobe, TETSUJIN the 28th! 

look how brutally offensive he looks, although nothing is attacking us (except radiation leaks, sigh). 

while GUNDAM is mainly protecting eastern side of japan by residing tokyo, TETSUJIN the 28th keeps peace and order in the west. 

these two national heroes are the main ones to protect our peace, but they are not the only ones. i will introduce more some other times in the near future.

a form of urban communication, stockholm hammarby sjostad

its been almost 3 years since i left stockholm. many things have been happening since then yet friends in stockholm have never stopped me aspiring to visit there again.

the other day, a friend of mine sent me a link of a dance performance, shot in hammarby sjostad, stockholm. Hammarby Sjostad has been developed as mixed-use city and is famous for its challenge for environmental protection. and naturally it has attracted many inspection tours in recent years.

what i liked about the area when i lived in stockholm was its potential and flexibility of space. although the area was resided by mainly relatively young upper middle class, its openness attracted me kind of poor students to visit once in a while just to hang out.

 

generally speaking, i dont fancy luxurious development sites. but i have failed to dislike hammarby. this is probably because of earlier mentioned potential and flexibility of space that hammarby provides.

when you are there, you can feel the sky, earth and water. you can see how cities and architectures can live with them. and you can communicate with nature through urban amenities.  these are some aspects of its potential i believe.

the form of urban communication could be various. it could be either linguistic or tacit. whats important might not be how to story but what to story. the clip doesnt speak anything but tells a lot.

i dreamed a dream of okinawa

OKINAWA

what do you associate the name with?

probably many who know it associate it with beautiful beach, unique food, and interesting culture. my innocent and naive imagination about okinawa is always associated with beach and hot bikini girls.
something like japanese version of this:P (btw, this is the reason why i love to visit bulgaria again...)

last week, i made a business trip to okinawa. it was my first time to be on the main island of it. although i knew it was a business trip, i was really motivated to encounter this sort of dream girls somewhere somehow. and if i could i would be willing to move there without any hesitation.

but you know what, the life might be a box of chocolate but i reconfirmed that the reality was far from sweet, more like cruel. what came out from my box of okinawa was a pile of garbage and a pig farm.

ok, as a mystery hunter wanna-be(?), actually i felt really lucky to be able to visit these sites. these are not something that you could visit on your vacation or tourist guide books would recommend to visit. i would say it was a deeper side of okinawa.

however, at the same time as a okinawa beginner lonely single sexually-unsatisfied 27-year-old male, i couldnt give up my dream of okinawa hot girls in bikini.

however, it turned out that i was just dreaming a dream. while i was talking with some locals i got to know at a bar after work, it turned out that girls in okinawa wouldnt appear on a beach with bikini!! they wear stupid t-shirts on a beach as otherwise it would be too hot and they literary burn themselves.

no hot tanned okinawa girls with bikini on a beach...

it was the saddest wake up call ever.

somehow it reminded me of the first encounter to this weird lady, but totally opposite way.

tokyo wonderland 07: the latest trend of gardening in tokyo

gardening has become really popular in recent years all over japan, and tokyo is no exception. regardless of limited amount of land availability, tokyo urbanites do all kinds of things to create charming urban gardens.

the other day i spotted the latest trend of gardening in tokyo while i was cycling to west. i discovered that gardening had evolved from a mere hobby to a way of expression. people today seemed to be not only enjoying gardening but expressing their whatsoever. for example, this barber shop successfully exemplified how barber shops should garden by its unique expression.

how do you garden?

tokyo wonderland 06: abandoned US army in fuchu

last sunday, i made a good long cycling to fuchu city in tokyo in order to check out an abandoned US army facility, or haikyo. in japan, there are plenty of haikyos around, but i think its rare to have such an army haikyo preserved (or just left).

although this area looks really cool, its not allowed to enter. probably ordinary haikyos are not welcoming any visitors but everybody just visits them. 

in this case, its too risky to intrude there as there might be a risk to be captured by american army (not by police):o 

the reason why ive got interested in this place is because ive read about the two parabolic antenna (on the picture below) in a magazine. im not sure what sort of signals they can receive. if the owner wants to continue watching japanese TV programmes, probably NHK should inform the owner that it is needed to change antenna to receive digital TV signals. 

they might be very useful if the owner want to follow the latest trends in the evil neighbor or wherever. who knows. 

whats funny about this place is that even local people dont get close to this place, regardless of its coolness. one of my colleagues is from this area but she has told me that she has never seen this haikyo from this distance, as it is dangerous.
however, according to the sign board hanged on the fence, this area is not dangerous.
it is just "bit dangerous." and the reason of its "bit danger" is because of flashers and gropers, not rapists or murderers. what a peaceful country japan is:P

tokyo wonderland 05: whats in front of "front of the market" station

the tsukiji fish market is one of the highlights of tourism in tokyo. although ive never been to see the famous bidding as im terrible at waking up in the early morning, i believe its something worthy to check in this megalopolis.

however, its been discussed that the fish market will be relocated from tsukiji to toyosu for some years. today i read a report that the budget bill for the relocation was passed through the tokyo local government. this news really made me determine to go to see the bidding asap. at least i should start trying.

although the budget bill went though the local authority, there are still many groups that are opposing to the relocation. and there are also some people who are agree to relocate the market from tsukiji, but to somewhere else like harumi. 

as for me, i havent been so interested in this topic like what will happen to the fish market itself whether it will stay in tsukiji or be relocated to toyosu, or harumi. i know next to nothing about the issue. however, when i was cycling the other day to check the front line of tokyo's defense forces, i found something crystal clear. there is already a station called "Shijo-Mae(市場前）" meaning "front of the market" built in toyosu where the market is planned to be relocated. 

but what in front of this station are a massive construction site, a huge field without any trace of construction, and two bridges that are not even connected to any other roads. there is even no concrete building around there, let alone any markets lol

lets see what will be built in front of the "front of the market" station :)

tokyo wonderland 04: how tokyo defends itself from the evil neighbour

its been a while since the young techno-haired dude has become the ruler of our evil neighbor land. and lately, apparently, this evil neighbor is now undertaking a missile launch (or a satellite launch? if what it is saying is correct :S ). dull politicians of my nation are probably discussing what they should do if it launches or hopefully how they can prevent from its launching. right wing people are always claiming that japan should militarize in order to possess the deterrent capabilities. as for me, i dont know much about military issues and havent even worried about this evil nation that much. therefore, i always thought that this dull nation would never ever prepare for anything.

however, while i was cycling in tokyo the other day, i came to realize that tokyo is aware of the threat and therefore has equipped a great military super hero for itself.

i dont know much about this robot (or some might argue that this mobile suit gundam is not a robot). however, judging from its macho appearance, im confident that it is strong enough to maintain the peace in japan, and probably that in even the universe.

Sunday bake shop Hatsudai, who said Japanese are workaholics

it is often said that japanese are workaholics, and it is often very true. even i sometimes work like stereotypical japanese do. and i believe there are millions of people who are working not to betray the expectation of non-japanese images how japanese should work. millions of people are working day and night, weekdays and weekends.

today while i was wondering around the area i live, i found a shop exemplifying the antithesis of the formula. it is Sunday Bake Shop, an bakery opens only on sundays... a day a week, 4days a month, 50days a year!! what a beautiful way of living!!

if you know me personally, it might be easy to imagine that i went in without the slightest hesitation just like water down the drain. as i was checking what i should buy, friendly shop keepers explained what they had. actually, when i discovered the shop, i became very jealous of the way they worked but when i was surrounded with the wonderful smell of baking, my ugly sense of jealous vanished and what i felt was why i didnt come here earlier time of the day. they only had berry muffins that looked too healthy to be good cakes. but how could i fight against cakes in a bakery? i gave in in an instant and got one with a huge smile on my face.

needless to say, the muffin was heavenly.

tokyo after quake 4, one year has past

its been a year since the quake hit japan.

some might feel its already a year, and some might feel its still a year.

many citizens in this country has been thinking what they can do ever since, but its rather doubtful whether they could actually do what they have been thinking.

as for me, i feel its already a year since the quake.

already as long as a year has passed yet i still cannot figure out the answer ive been questioning to myself. what can i do, what should i do, what do i want to do, and what do i have to do? where? how? and for whom? i still dont have any clue even after a year.

today, tens of thousands of people gathered at hibiya park for the one year memorial and prayed for the victims. those who are left cannot waste this devastating casualty. we are responsible for designing better future for them.

while i was listening to speakers of the event, i got jealous as they knew the answers and they could actually make some actions.

in order to take that responsibility by myself as well, it is definitely needed to get my answers this year.