July « 2010 « Launching Over Japan

Being a hockey fan in Japan is not an easy thing. Despite living in northern Japan and even playing hockey in Morioka, it is tough to find my hockey fix. However, with the introduction of a new local team, I think I may have just found what I am looking for. The Tohoku Free Blades.

Professional hockey in Japan has had its share of ups and downs over the years. All of the turbulence is due to the fact that hockey is just not a dominant player in Japanese sport. In a country dominate by baseball, sumo and soccer, sports such and volleyball and even handball routine drown ice hockey in the headlines. There is nothing wrong with that. To each their own I say. But there is a core group of fans and players and for the moment, they have the Asia League to turn to.

The AL is league made up of teams from China, Korea and Japan. they play a regular season followed by a brief playoff tournament. A northern team based out of Hachinohe joined the league last year. They are called the Tohoku Free blades, and they represent my area. I got the chance to see a game when they came to Morioka earlier this year. They played ‘Halla Korea’ the eventual season champions. They lost the game, but it was a fairly exciting game . I would compare it to tier 2 Junior hockey back in Canada, though it did have its Major junior moments. There was even a nice fight that broke out.

Given the instability of the league at moment, I am not going to hold my breathe on how long it was last, but I given some updates to the progress of the Free Blades and their 2010 season when the new becomes readily available. For now I am going to try and purchase a ‘season’ ticket and make sure I can see them when they are playing in their home rink and in Morioka.

Living in northern Japan has its share of good and bad. Being in a smaller area means that you have less access to major shopping and entertainment facilities. These are downsides many people could not stand to live without. One major bonus, however, is the incredible amount of raw nature a person can experience. In my little area of Northern Japan, Hachimantai City, located in Iwate Prefecture, I live not 15 kilometers from Mt.Iwate, one of Japan’s one hundred famous mountains.

Mt.Iwate as seen from Hachimantai City

Now Mt. Iwate is famous for a number of reasons. It looks just like Mt.Fuji from some angles. It’s a great mountain for climbing, and its snow cap paints a picturesque view in the winter. Recently, I have discovered that Mt.Iwate, like other cone shaped volcanoes such as Fuji and Mt. Rainer act as amazing lenticular cloud making machines.

Lenticular Clouds near Mt.Iwate

Lenticular clouds are saucer shaped clouds that are often seen stacked like pancakes near large mountains. On certain days winds rolling off the mountains create a standing wave. If stable and moist the air is around the mountain and falling downwind when the dew point is reached, the disks condense into clouds will stack up on each other. Every year, many people call the police to report these odd clouds. They looks either like a flying saucer or a cover for one. they are perfectly normal clouds. But you tend to find them around mountains.

Mt.Iwate has been a perfect source of lenticular clouds this year, and I’ve had my camera going most of this summer trying to document them. The following is what I have recorded so far. Sometimes, the lenticular clouds bend and warp out of shape and form incredible bulges in the sky. Once or twice a year, they provide for a spectacular sunset. Please enjoy these photos and look out for them the next time you are hanging around some mountains.

Monthly Archive for July, 2010

Tohoku Free Blades Ice Hockey Club

Mt.Iwate and Lenticular Clouds

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