Samurai Parade News Coverage (Finally!)

I'm pretty sure this is on NHK, Japan's public news network. I missed it when it was originally aired, but I couldn't let such a cool little moment go to waste, so I bugged a friend of mine who worked at city hall to somehow get me a copy(thanks Nobue!!). The first bit is unrelated baseball nonsense from Saitama. After that is the good part. You can catch a quick glance of me chucking beans at strangers and laughing my head off about it. The other guys got a lot better look at the camera. Mike's little "tanoshikatta desu" means "It was fun". Its not super important, but I wanted to get it up on YouTube finally.

One thing that strikes me about Japanese television is how much of everything is subtitled. Is it hard for people to understand complicated spoken Japanese without seeing it written? Is it for the benefit of the hearing impaired? No idea. Any thoughts?

Thailand Part 5: The Grand Palace

We went to Bangkok's Grand Palace after our morning spent at the floating market.

The palace has a strict dress code that not one of us was ready for. In the end we were forced to rent some really unfortunate pants from a little store across the street.

And then we were in. This is the probably the pointiest, shiniest place on earth.

Mike, Clarence, and I in our rented pants. I was still refusing to part with my adventuring hat purchased earlier on the river.








My favorite part was this very long mural of an epic mythological battle. The apemen, pigmen, birdmen, demon guys, giants, and humans all duked it out battle royal style. It was all very Lord of the Rings.




A dog faced gentleman getting sorted out.






I laughed out loud when I turned the corner and spotted this guy. He is actually just touching up the faded spots, but he still looked out of place. A well negotiated bribe here might have landed me a cameo in this painting. Just add my face on that guy with the six beefy arms, please.








Chakri Mahaprasad Hall is a bit apart from the other buildings. It feels much more stately and classy: you don't need to cover a building in glitter to convey a sense of grandeur.


We were totally hat twinkies!

Next are a few random things.

These are common condiments used in Thai dishes. These came with a plate of pad thai. The first two are pepper based. That I can handle. The third one, though, is straight sugar. I didn't mess with that.

Some dried tamarind that I picked up at a convenience store. Although this fruit looks like something a dog might have left in a park, it is actually pretty good.


The hotel was a few blocks into a residential neighborhood, which was a nice chance to see a bit of everyday life. That life includes packs of wild "soi dogs" that roam the streets. One particular night there were quite a few of them. I even had a group of them following me for what seemed like an eternity. I didn't dare stop or look back, but I could hear their many toenails clicking on the pavement. I found myself pondering the best course of action if I was attacked by them... run or fight, run or fight. How many stray dogs could I fend off before being devoured, or at least slightly delayed?

Interesting Local Economy Article

Give this Mainichi Daily News article a look. Its a very informative little piece about the Brazilian population in Oizumi, which is feeling some pressure due to the current economic situation. One of the people laid off apparently robbed an Ashikaga convenience store.

I think that Japan was very slowly opening up to a bit of immigration for economic reasons. They needed young people to work in the factories. But without jobs, these people who are already living on the fringe of society are put in a difficult position. I will be watching how this unfolds.

Thailand Part 4: The Floating Market

My most cherished day trip of them all was our time at the Damnoen Saduak floating market.



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After a taxi ride a couple hours out of town, we boarded what looked like a canoe with a motor on the back, and got down to business. The first bit was similar to our earlier little boat trip: lots of zooming past people's houses, except now the houses were more comfortably spaced and there was a canopy of trees overhead. I wonder if these people have any roads at all... I didn't see much evidence of any cars or motor vehicles other than boats.

The boat ride itself was awesome. Our driver was super nice. His English was such that with some careful listening over the buzz of the engine we could usually understand what he was saying. Just the experience of shopping from a boat was really novel and fun. After buying something I could just plop it down in front of myself in the boat, not needing to lug it around all day. Unfortunately most of the stuff for sale was just too touristy for me. Lots of useless little knickknacks and things that none of us wanted to buy. The interesting part for me was the food. There were many nice old women paddling around in boats laden with cheap fruits never before seen. Others were actually cooking things in their little canoes. Everything tasted great.

I have no idea what this is. The lady selling them advised me that they were tart, and she was correct. The nice thing about the people selling food is that they aren't as aggressive with prices. They seem to give everyone the same low price, which I really appreciated.


Allison procured this interesting dessert. I think its rice pudding cooked into little balls.


My main inedible purchases were 6 identical little wooden boxes with elephants on them for the English teachers at my school, and this little wall hanging that now graces my bathroom.

Setsubun Samurai Parade the Second Time

Once again its Setsubun and samurai parade time. Setsubun marks the transition from winter to spring time. I feel like this year winter in Ashikaga isn't as cold as it was last year. Could be my imagination or the fact that I am better prepared this year, though. The parade weather was beautiful compared to last year.

One new addition to this year's army was a group with firearms.
They even fired them off a few times later on. I regard samurai carrying guns as blasphemy despite that fact that it actually happened.

The three Japanese amigos. You might notice that their armor is way super cooler than the stuff I wore. Well, for unknown reasons the cost of doing the parade went from zero to about $150. You get what you pay for, I suppose.

Walking in the parade is usually reserved for the new English teachers, but I had so much fun last year that I asked a few months ago if it was possible to do it again. I'm glad that I didn't walk though. Seeing the ridiculously large smiles on the guys' faces reminded me of what a special time it was for me. It wouldn't be as awesome the second time. Good memories.

Speaking of memories, the Ashikaga news letter for February is sporting a picture of last year's event, featuring the mug of yours truly.

Last weekend I went to Tokyo and gallivanted with some friends. A large group of us spent a sizable amount of time at an izakaya(Japanese version of a bar and grill). Our bill made it over the 30,000 yen mark, which is where the store is forced to add a revenue tax stamp to our receipt.

I never spend this much money in one spot, so this is the first time I've acquired one of these.