Posts from — October 2008

Along with Jeffrey Friedl, Jim Brown and the Ickey Shuffle, the Etch-a-Sketch is one of the icons of Ohio. However, only a Japanese would still have the original box, instruction book and plastic maze overlay all in pristine condition after more than 30 years.

Inside the Hara House during preparations for the Kurama Fire Festival. My forthcoming documentary will show the building of the torches and other preparations for the neighborhood tradition that goes back more than 1,000 years, as well as interviews and extended footage of the wild torch runs. Sorry for the nasty watermark but I’m protecting this until the video comes out.

I found Greg hand copying the main menu screen of an “Okaasan to Issho” DVD. Age 4.

Sunday was a lucky day on the calendar (tai-an) so I suppose there were several shinto-style weddings going on at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto. One new couple was coming out of the main hall, while another was posing for formal photos off to the side, presumably about to go in for their ceremony.

A Kannushi shinto priest clears the path of tourists before the couple walks out.

A Miko shrine maiden assists in the formalities. As an aside, you can see behind her that the year 昭和42 (Showa42 = 1967), my birth year, is highlighted in red. Red is usually an auspicious color, but in this case it means that 2008 (Heisei 20) is the unluckiest possible year (yaku-doshi) for me, so I had a special ceremony at Yasaka Jan. 2 and made a larger donation than usual.

Greg draws a lot of pictures and is filling page after page with writing in English, Japanese and numbers. This is a family portrait of Mama, Gregory and Daddy, as if you couldn’t tell.

Is there anything as doleful as the last run of an old train before it is dismantled an melted down? Can we all just start crying now?

Today the names of three local Keihan stations were changed to promote tourism. I just happened to be riding keihan today. Keihan Shijo became Gion-shijo, Gojo became Kiyomizu-gojo, and Marutamachi became Jingu-marutamachi. This was timed to coincide with the opening of the new Nakanoshima Line of Keihan in Osaka.

Who leaves Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?

A car turned upside down on a jig and cultivated with moss. You don’t know when the automatic misting system is going to turn on, so that makes it interesting. Also, the gallery is only slightly bigger than the car.